Like other Swiss private banking groups, EFG International has suffered from the strength of the Swiss franc in terms of its financial performance although underlying results, such as inflows, are encouraging.

EFG International, the Swiss-based private banking group, announced today it has made a net core profit of SFr72.6 million ($90.8 million) for the first six months of 2011, down from SFr88.4 million a year ago, as the strength of the Swiss franc took its toll.

Core operating income fell to SFr396 million compared with SFr407.1 million a year ago. Revenue-generating assets under management fell to SFr80 billion at the end of June, compared with SFr84.8 billion at the end of last year, with both these falls caused by the strength of the Swiss franc against other major currencies.

As seen in the latest quarterly results published by Julius Baer and UBS in recent days, the Swiss franc’s rise against the likes of the dollar, euro and sterling is hitting Swiss bank’s earnings once their revenues are converted.

More positively, EFG International said net new assets were SFr2.7 billion for the first half of 2011, representing annualised growth of 6.4 per cent.

As recently announced, EFG International has initiated a business review following the appointment of John Williamson as chief executive from 27 June. The bank will set out in mid-October the steps being taken to reposition the organisation for controlled, profitable growth, based on its core business of private banking and with a heightened focus on shareholder value.

The core cost-income ratio stood at 82.8 per cent compared with 81.5 per cent for the same period last year, but down from 85.2 per cent for 2010. The core revenue margin stood at 95 basis points, in line with the second half of 2010, and up from 92bps in the first half of last year.

EFG International’s BIS capital ratio stood at 14.4 per cent at end-June, up from 13.0 per cent a year earlier, and up from 14.0 per cent at end-2010.

The bank said its Americas and Asia businesses “continued to achieve strong growth during the first half of 2011”, each growing revenues and profits by over 20 per cent in local currency terms. It said the UK business also delivered “double-digit profit growth”. However, in Europe, while most constituent businesses delivered positive performances on a constant currency basis, overall performance was “below expectations”.