After having announced the appointment of a new CEO this week, the bank reported a mixed set of figures, with a drop in profit and revenues, but also higher assets under management and recovery in net new money.

Julius Baer today reported a net profit, on an IFRS reporting basis, of SFr452 million ($511.9 million) for the first half of 2024, down by 15 per cent on a year earlier, reflecting a year-on-year decline in revenues.

The Zurich-listed bank, which earlier this week announced it had appointed a new CEO, said operating income dipped 4 per cent on a year earlier. Higher recurring income and higher levels of client activity were more than offset by a rise in interest expense. 

Assets under management rose 11 per cent from the end of 2023 to stand at SFr474 billion, lifted by rising stock markets, a weaker Swiss franc, and net new money of SFr3.7 billion.

Lower provisions and the bank’s acceleration of a cost programme offset the effect of investment in future growth, Julius Baer said.

The lender said its Common Equity Tier 1 ratio rose 16.3 per cent, up from 14.6 per cent at the end of 2023.

Julius Baer is working to recover from heavy losses sustained by the Swiss bank from loans to a conglomerate. Goldman Sachs senior figure Stefan Bollinger has been named new CEO, taking the role vacated earlier this year by the exit of Philipp Rickenbacher. (The current ad interim CEO is Nic Dreckmann.)

“After a challenging start to the year, Julius Baer is now regaining its momentum. We are executing on the commitments we made on 1 February 2024, and along our strategic priorities. Our results for the first half of 2024 demonstrate that we have remained close to our clients, in order to support them as they position themselves for a new investment cycle,” Dreckmann said.

“We have also continued to attract top-quality relationship managers and are thus investing in our future growth, while seeking to further enhance efficiency. Meanwhile we have strengthened our governance and risk management framework,” he said. 

New money
After a negative start in January, Julius Baer said net new money recovered “significantly” over the subsequent months, resulting in total net inflows of SFr3.7 billion (H1 2023: SFr7.1 billion). 

“Solid net inflows came from clients domiciled in strategic key markets in Europe (especially the UK, Germany, and Spain), Asia (particularly India and Singapore), and the Middle East (especially the UAE),” it said. 

Deleveraging by clients slowed considerably towards the end of the period. Excluding deleveraging, net new money amounted to SFr3.9 billion (H1 2023: SFr9.2 billion).

Income 
Operating income fell because the positive impact of higher net commission and fee income and a rise in net income from financial instruments, measured at fair value through profit or loss, was more than offset by higher balance sheet funding costs, leading to a decline in net interest income.

Net commission and fee income grew by 14 per cent to SFr1.093 billion in H1 2024, with recurring income rising by 9 per cent to SFr858 million, well ahead of the year-on-year increase in monthly average AuM. 

Net interest income fell 52 per cent to SFr223 million.