Clariden Leu, the Swiss private bank, logged net revenues of SFr1.07 billion (around $1.09 billion) for the year, down slightly from a year ago when the figure stood at SFr1.1 billion, it said today, mostly shrugging off the effect of low interest rates, a strong Swiss franc, and a low level of market activity.

Net profit was SFr209 million, down from SFr353 million, with the decline from the previous year due partly to the bank's one-off insurance receipt of SFr100 million in 2009 as well as increased regulatory expenses and investments in growth markets, Clariden Leu said in a statement.

The bank said it had a cost/income ratio of 71 per cent, which includes all expenses and write-downs, making it “among the leaders in the industry”.

The firm has a BIS Tier 1 core capital ratio of 23.9 per cent at the end of 2010, making it one of Switzerland’s best capitalised banks, it said.

“In the second half of the year, the bank was able to reverse the trend of net outflows. Alongside inflows from the asset management business, all growth regions contributed including the Middle East, India, Asia, and Latin America. In the Swiss domestic market, Clariden Leu experienced growth in every quarter and at every location,” it said.

Assets under management stood at SFr96 billion at the end of 2010, which is slightly below the bank's annual average of SFr100 billion, due mainly to the weakening of the US dollar and the Euro against the Swiss franc.

The bank said sales of structured products proved to be a strong feature of its 2010 results: the volume of business increased by 67 per cent from 2009 and stood at SFr4 billion at year-end.