Liechtenstein private bank LGT hiked revenue and assets last year, but profit edged lower.
Full-year profit at the «princely bank» LGT fell 2 percent to 308.1 million Swiss francs ($332 million) last year, LGT said in a statement on Monday. The lower profit masks underlying growth at the Vaduz, Liechtenstein-based private bank.
Its assets rose 15 percent to 228 billion, helped by a doubling of net money inflows to nearly 14 billion, it said. Revenue climbed 8 percent, as the larger asset base pitched in more performance revenue (trading and other income also surged).
Expanded Workforce
The growth follows sizeable investment by LGT: last year, its workforce grew by 8 percent to 3,662 staff. This prompted a 15 percent jump in spending to 1.06 billion francs (and a slight rise in its cost-income ratio, to 74.1 percent).
The bank, run by Prince Max von und zu Liechtenstein, a son of the current monarch, underscored its focus on impact investment last year. It bought Aspada, an Indian boutique, in a bid to bulk up. LGT said it is also begun systematically excluding companies that produce coal or generate energy from coal from its investments – a move which mirrors Swiss rivals like Pictet and Lombard Odier.
