EDMOND DE ROTHSCHILD TREADS WATER

Edmond de Rothschild hiked its first-half profit considerably. The Swiss private bank treaded water on client assets in the period.

Edmond de Rothschild lifted operating profit in the first six months by 9 percent to 59.6 million Swiss francs, the Geneva-based private bank said. Net profit jumped by nearly one-third to 34.6 million francs.

Stripped of an extraordinary gain from selling its Bahamas outfit, operating profit rose just 3.4 percent while the bottom line surged 19 percent.



The bank attributed the rise to successful partnerships in wealth management in particular as well as good balance sheet and spending discipline amid a fall in transaction volumes.

Assets under management were steady at 118.9 billion francs from 118.1 billion at year-end, presumably linked to the lower transaction volume and other withdrawals.

The growth Rothschild did manage is due to «healthy» market conditions, the bank said. Favorable performance masks the fact that clients pulled 18 million francs from the bank in the period, compared to 2.2 billion francs of inflows last year.

Edmond de Rothschild's solvency ratio is 25 percent – well over regulatory requirements, as is customary for banks including Mirabaud, Pictet, and Lombard Odier, which all reported the half-year this week.