The Swiss financial boutique warned its profits will slump on the year due to a variety of unusual factors.
Zurich-based Bellevue flagged a massive drop in first-half profit to 6 million Swiss francs ($6.4 million) from 14.2 million francs last year, in a statement on Monday. Bellevue blamed a 6 million franc loss on goodwill from subsidiary StarCapital for the profit warning, which comes ahead of its full results on July 30.
The drop masks a 15 percent rise in operating profit, fueled by its healthcare asset management strategies. «Many new clients were acquired in this sector, whereas demand for traditional investment strategies weakened as a result of the general market environment,» it said.
Leaving Banking
Bellevue sold its banking activities to Quintet private bank earlier this year, a move that shifted its business to purely asset management. It said its total client funds snapped back after a sharp drop in March, at the onset of the pandemic in Europe and the U.S.
Its assets now stand at 10.6 billion francs. Bellevue's operating income also rose by more than four percent to 49 million francs due to the higher asset pile. Its financial results last year were bolstered by the surprise sale of its seat on Switzerland's stock exchange, which finews.com reported exclusively went to Credit Suisse.
