Julius Baer's assets slipped in the first four months, but market swerves and busy trading rooms bolstered its margin.
The Swiss private bank's assets slipped to 392 billion Swiss francs ($403 billion) in the first four months, it said in a statement on Tuesday. The tumble in financial markets, as well as Switzerland's strong currency, offset new money hauled in by private bankers at a rate of roughly 2 percent on existing funds, it said.
«It is clearly too early to assess with any certainty the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the global economy, the financial markets, and the results of Julius Baer for the remainder of 2020,» CEO Philipp Rickenbacher said. Since taking over nine months ago, the Swiss banker has reworked Julius Baer's strategy and carried out a round of job cuts earlier this year.
Fatter Margins
The bank said it worked more profitably in the four months to April, thanks to the trading boom: its gross margin rose to 95 basis points, despite a fall in interest income as well as a «moderate rise» in lending losses. Its margin was especially strong in March when the outbreak first spread in Europe and the U.S., but in each month stood well north of the 82 basis points Julius Baer posted last year
Rickenbacher's quick cost cuts also fed through: the bank's cost-income ratio improved to 64 percent (it stood at 71 percent last year), thanks to a drop in spending. It also opted to sell a Bahamas operation as part of the restructuring, to Ansbacher (Bahamas) Ltd. for an undisclosed amount.
