Liechtenstein's VP Bank Expects Acquisition To Dent H1 Results, But Underlying Figures Look Good

Tom Burroughes

14 June 2016

Liechtenstein-headquartered expects to log a drop in group net income for the first six months of this year from the same period a year ago, it said today, as a result of a one-off cost caused by integrating Centrum Bank, which it has acquired.

However, once the Centrum Bank effect is taken out of the equation, VP Bank expects operating income to “significantly exceed the prior-year level”.

“Based on current information, and as announced upon publication of the 2015 annual results, net income for VP Bank Group for the first half of 2016 will be lower as compared to the same period in the previous year,” the bank said in a statement.

“Up to this point, performance over the first semester of 2016 has been very positive. Assuming that market circumstances remain unchanged and leaving aside the one-off effect, the group expects net operating income to significantly exceed the prior-year level,” it added.

Full figures for the first half will be published on 30 August.

In 2015, as reported in March this year, VP Bank recorded net income of SFr64.1 million (around $66.5 million), while its net operating income increased by 37.7 per cent, from SFr222.7 million to SFr306.6 million, largely due to VP Bank’s merger with Centrum Bank last year.

Total interest income rose by 28.9 per cent versus the previous year to a total of SFr84.5 million. Meanwhile, total income from the commission business and services increased in 2015 by 6.7 per cent to SFr126.4 million. The cost/income ratio in 2015 fell by 20 per cent to 59.4 per cent (previous year: 74.2 per cent).

On 31 December 2015, client assets under management at VP Bank Group amounted to SFr34.8 billion, a 12.4 per cent increase over the prior-year reading of SFr30.9 billion.