EFG International saw new money inflows in every quarter last year. It is raising its dividend and buying back more shares.

EFG International saw its net profit increase 48 percent to 248.7 million Swiss francs ($269 million) last year, corresponding to an IFRS net profit of 202.4 million, while also managing to attract new client money, according to an announcement Wednesday.

The wealth manager attracted 4.2 billion Swiss francs of new client money, much of it coming in the fourth quarter based on the 2.6 billion it had at the end of September, having added new money in each quarter of last year, marking an annual increase of 2.4 percent. According to the firm, that result marks 15 consecutive quarters of positive AuM inflows. 

Continental Europe and the Middle East accounted for the bulk of the new money with 3.2 billion of new assets, followed by Italy and Switzerland with 1.4 billion. Asia Pacific and Latin America each brought in 500 billion while the UK and investment solutions recorded respective outflows of 500 and 900 million. 

Deleveraging By Clients

The lower growth rate compared to 5.5 percent in 2021 «reflects de-risking and deleveraging by clients across most regions in one of the most challenging market environments since the global financial crisis,» EFG said.

Assets under Management declined to 143.1 billion last year compared to 172 billion at the end of 2021. Nevertheless, the end-of-year AuM figure marks an increase from the 140.9 billion it had at the end of September. The reduction includes EFG's divestment in Spanish private bank A&G totaling 11.6 billion francs, the market impact of 16.2 billion, and foreign exchange effects of 3.9 billion. That was partially offset by the 4.2 billion of new AuM. 

Dividend Increase

The Swiss private bank said it will propose an increase to its annual dividend by 25 percent to 45 centimes per share at the annual general meeting on April 21. The dividend will be exempt from Swiss withholding tax.

Share Buybacks

In addition to the increased dividend and as a reflection of its strong capital position, EFG said it will repurchase up to 3 million shares by the end of April to fund variable share-based compensation for employees. Last year, EFG bought back 7.7 million of its shares for 61.1 million francs.