Banque Cantonale Vaudoise, Switzerland's second-biggest cantonal bank, increased its full-year profit by 14 percent last year as income from trading rose and thanks to a one-time gain from the sale of a stake.
Banque Cantonale Vaudoise (BCV), the cantonal bank of Vaud, had a full-year profit of 336 million Swiss francs last year, the company said in a statement today.
The bank earned 150.5 million francs from trading, an increase of 41 percent compared with 2014, driven by foreign-exchange trading after the central bank pulled the plug on the franc-euro rate floor.
Extraordinary Income
BCV also had an extraordinary income of 28.6 million francs, mainly because of the sale of a stake in Swisscanto, while a one-off dividend by SIX Group boosted other ordinary income to 53 million, an increase of 33 percent.
Net interest income declined 6 percent to 490.1 million francs and the net fee and commission income by 3 percent to 332.3 million.
Higher Dividend
Assets under management rose 2 percent to 88 billion francs. In line with the bank's strategy to reflect the more stringent regulatory demands in respect to offshore activities, assets from offshore activities declined.
BCV proposes to increase the dividend by 1 franc to 23 francs per share and to pay an additional 10 francs per share from its capital reserves. The canton of Vaud owns 67 percent of BCV.
Lower FY Profit Expected
The bank expects a lower full-year profit for 2016 compared with 2015 because non-recurring items had boosted net income last year. Still, «barring a significant deterioration in the financial markets and the overall economic climate, business development is expected to trend along the same lines as in 2015,» the bank said in the statement.
The canton of Vaud appointed Peter Ochsner to the board of directors. He will take up his position on July 1, 2016.
