Swiss broker and bank Swissquote has published its key figures for the first half of the year.
In the first quarter, Swissquote's net revenues rose by 32.8% year-on-year to CHF 265.6 million. This growth was mainly driven by non-transaction income.
According to details from FNG, net interest income rose 587.6% to CHF 102.7 million, mainly due to high interest rates.
At the same time, the company reported a decline in trading activity, with the number of transactions down 26.7% year-on-year.
Net fee and commission income from January to June decreased by 9.1% compared to the first half of 2022.
Net income from cryptoassets fell 61.5% to CHF 7.5 million, while net income from forex rose 1.1% to CHF 54.9 million.
The company said lower trading volumes contributed to a 10.8% decline in net trading income to CHF 26.7 million.
Total expenses rose by 30.0% to CHF 138.4 million due to higher marketing and personnel costs.
Overall, Swissquote's net profit rose by 38.2% year-on-year to CHF 106.5 million, with the net profit margin increasing from 38.6% to 40.1% and the pre-tax profit margin rising to 47.0%.
During the year, the number of client accounts increased by 6.4% to 555,266. Client assets increased by 9.9% to CHF 56.9 billion. Net new money fell to CHF 3.0 billion, but Swissquote stressed that this was still organic, taking into account the acquisition of Keytrade Bank Luxembourg for CHF 1.7 billion last year.
Total equity increased by 6.8% to CHF 791.6 million during the period under review. The capital ratio was 25.5%.
The company expects financial results for the second half of the year to be similar to or better than the first half. Net sales and pre-tax profit will be around CHF 530 million and CHF 250 million, respectively.
Also read: The Federal Reserve strengthens control over the cryptocurrency activities of banks.
