The Swiss cooperative bank's profits surged in the first six months. The buoyant report is marred by the recent, sudden resignation of its chairman amid a tawdry scandal.
Raiffeisen's first-half profit climbed 45 percent to 505 Swiss francs ($553 million) in the first half, it said in a statement (in German) on Wednesday. It benefited from higher commissions and fees, widened its mortgage book, released some Covid-19 provisions, and keep a lid on costs.
The St. Gallen-based lender, one of five systemically relevant ones in Switzerland due to a 193 billion francs in home equity loan book, didn't provide a specific outlook. UBS, Credit Suisse, Zurich's cantonal bank, and Postfinance are the other Swiss systemically relevant firms.
Buoyant Business
Revenue rose six percent as its interest income – its primary business – as well as commissions and fees rose, the number and volume of investment mandates climbed by two-thirds, it sold more pension and fund savings products, and booked a fillip in trading. At the same time, its cost-income ratio improved to 56.3 percent, from 58.1 percent, amid only a marginal rise in its spending.
Raiffeisen, which took in 10 billion francs in new client deposits in the first six months, said it will focus on expanding its business around home equity through an ecosystem approach, its digital channels, and its investment business in the second half.
Departure Amid Scandal
Raiffeisen didn't mention the search for a new chairman. Its overseer, Guy Lachappelle, resigned suddenly last month after admitting he had passed on confidential information from his former employer, also a Swiss bank, to a woman with whom he had been romantically involved.
Lachappelle had been hired by Raiffeisen in 2018 as part of a rehabilitation effort following a major scandal with former CEO Pierin Vincenz, who is at the center of a criminal investigation.
