Geneva private bank Pictet has had great growth rates in the first six months of 2019. But the development of business volument doesn't come for free.

The first half of 2019 was one of rapid growth at Pictet, the Geneva-based private bank. Assets under management reached 544 billion Swiss francs ($549 billion) at the end of June, up 48 billion francs from the end of 2018, according to the half-year report published on Monday.

The key figure though, profit, was down: the bank had net income of 265 million francs in the reporting period, down 17 percent from the same period a year earlier.

Higher Cost-Income Ratio

The price the bank is paying for its expansion is exemplied by the cost-income ratio. The indicator worsened by 5 percent points to 74 percent, the bank said.

One of the reasons for the higher ratio is the boost in the number of jobs. Pictet created 160 full-time-equivalents in the past half year, with 100 of those based in Switzerland. Operative income by contrast dropped to 1.28 billion francs from 1.35 billion a year earlier.