Financial Results

Pictet's Consolidated Net Profit Down 40 Per Cent

Amanda Cheesley Deputy Editor 1 September 2022

Pictet's Consolidated Net Profit Down 40 Per Cent

This week, the Swiss private bank – the Pictet Group – released unaudited figures for the first half of 2022.

Pictet's figures show that operating income was up 2 per cent in the first half of this year compared with 2021, reaching SFr1.577 billion ($1.61 billion), but consolidated net profit was down by 40 per cent.

Although net profit was up 1 per cent – it reached SFr380 million after adjusting for the one-off gain in the first half of 2021 from the sale of Pictet’s main building in Geneva – consolidated net profit fell, the group said in a statement.

Total operating expenses before tax were also up 3 per cent, totalling SFr1.110 billion, the firm added.

Assets under management or custody stood at SFr610 billion at 30 June 2022, compared with SFr698 billion at 31 December 2021, driven by market fluctuations, the group stressed.

Nevertheless, Pictet said its total capital ratio remains strong. At 30 June 2022, the total capital ratio was 23.5 per cent, above the minimum of 12 per cent required by FINMA, based on SFr3.06 billion of total regulatory capital.

Explaining the reasons behind the results, Renaud de Planta, senior managing partner, said: "After two years of the pandemic and following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the world entered a new and more fractured global order.”

“Both events have inverted the macroeconomic backdrop of the past two decades, with a shift from low inflation and low interest rates to high inflation and rising interest rates. The impact of the market-driven drop in our assets under management has been partly offset by rising interest rates,” he added.

“We continue to invest in technology and talent and are focused on generating value for our clients. They recognise and aim to leverage the benefits of active managers in this challenging market environment," he stressed.

Geneva-based Pictet, which has 30 offices worldwide, offers wealth management, asset management, alternative investments and related asset services to its clients.

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