Swissquote marks 43.9% Y/Y increase in net profit in H1 2018 on back of strong client activity
Net profit rose 43.9% to CHF 25.7 million in the six months to June 30, 2018, compared to the same period in 2017.
Swiss provider of online financial and trading services Swissquote Group Holding SA (SWX:SQN) has earlier today posted its key financial and operating metrics for the first half of 2018, with profits and revenues rising significantly over their levels seen in the corresponding period in 2017.
The net profit for the period to June 30, 2018, amounted to CHF 25.7 million, up 43.9% from CHF 17.9 million registered in the equivalent period a year earlier. Pre-tax profits also marked a significant increase – the result of CHF 30.8 million was 43.6% higher than in the first half of 2017.
Net revenues amounted to CHF 112.8 million, compared to CHF 89.1 million registered in the equivalent period a year earlier. All four business areas contributed to achieving this robust result.
Net fee & commission income improved by 42.8% to CHF 55.6 million. The Group attributed half of this rise to a strong growth in the number of client accounts and an increase in client trading activities (11.8 transactions per client/year compared to 10.8 for the first half of 2017). The other half was achieved in the cryptocurrency business. However, following a decline in the value of cryptocurrencies recently, revenues in this area are likely to be somewhat weaker in the second half of the year.
Net interest income surged (+80.5% year on year) to CHF 15.6 million in the first half of 2018, whereas eForex income reached a new record high of CHF 35.1 million. Net trading income increased by 13.4% to CHF 11.7 million.
Another significant development in the first half of 2018 was the increase of 20.6% in client assets to CHF 25.5 billion. Net new monies reached CHF 2.4 billion, an increase of 60% from the first half of 2017.
The total number of accounts rose 6.3% to 322,032. These include:
- 249,699 trading accounts;
- 26,968 savings accounts;
- 2,379 robo-advisory accounts;
- 42,986 eForex accounts.
The period saw the launch of new products, including the Swissquote Multi Currency Credit Card for making payments in a variety of currencies. It allows owners of a Swissquote trading account to benefit from a simple, flexible and secure method of payment across the globe.