Zuercher Kantonalbank posts record net-profit after attracting record new money inflows.
State-backed Zuercher Kantonalbank (ZKB) generated a record net profit of 943 million Swiss francs (∼ $1 billion) last year, 8.9 percent above the previous year. Operating income was up 31 million francs to 2.54 billion francs, driven by strong growth in commission and fees, it said in a statement Friday.
Assets Under Management
Assets under management also reached record levels, up 13 percent from the previous year to 409.2 billion francs. Net new money inflows of 25.9 billion francs, up 17 percent from a year ago contributed to the gain. Of this, 40 percent was from individual clients and 60 percent came from institutional investors.
Dividends
The bank will share profits of 431 million francs with the Canton of Zurich and its municipalities for the financial year 2021, representing a 21 percent increase on the previous year.
«Our record result is based on strong organic growth in our core and specialized segments,» Martin Scholl, who will pass on his role as CEO to Urs Baumann, effective September 1, this year.
Operating Costs
The bank also cut its operating expenses by four percent from the record level of 2020, to 1.52 million francs.
Key Area
Interest operations, which the bank says is its most important income stream, saw gross interest income rise 30 million francs to 1.3 billion francs last year. ZKB said it is performing «very successfully» in this space thanks to growth in mortgage volume.
The bank's mortgage portfolio grew nearly five percent last year to 91.8 billion francs, attributing the favorable interest rate environment and the attractiveness of real estate investments as the main drivers.
50,000 «frankly» Users
ZKB's foray into fintech with the pension app «frankly,» launched in 2020, now has around 50,000 clients with assets totaling 1.1 billion francs, it said.
Swiss regulator Finma ranks ZKB as a systemically important domestic bank.
