Swissquote revenues drops 14%, crypto activity halved in 2022
Swissquote Group, Switzerland’s provider of online trading services, reported its operating revenue for the 12-month period ending December 31, 2022 at 414.6 million Swiss francs (roughly $446 million).
This figure is lower by 13.5 percent when weighed against the CHF 472 million ($518 million) it booked in 2021. The company’s net revenues were reported at CHF 408.0 million, similarly down from CHF 472.5 million a year ago, but still amount to the second -highest result ever. Additionally, net trading income decreased by 23.8 percent as due to lower turnover in asset classes traded in foreign currencies.
The bank, based in Gland, western Switzerland, said its pre-tax profit for the year came at CHF 186.4 million ($201 million), down -17 percent from a record of CHF 223 million ($245 million) the previous year.
As of 31 December 2022, client assets reached CHF 52.2 billion, out of which CHF 7.7 billion in new money it attracted in 2022. With a capital ratio of 25.7 percent, Swissquote says it is well positioned to benefit from higher market interest rates.
Swissquote blames clients’ cautious trading even in higher-risk asset classes such as crypto assets. As of 31 December 2022, total crypto assets under custody declined to CHF 1.0 billion from CHF 2.8 billion in 2021.
Compared with the prior-year period, net fee and commission income decreased by 7.6 percent. However, the share of non-transaction-based revenues was able to compensate for the slowdown in trading activity.
Net eForex income also decreased by 14.3 percent, due to lower volumes. On the other hand, net interest income nearly tripled as the CHF policy rate moved from a negative 0.75 percent to a positive 1.0 percent reference rate at the end of 2022.
Other business highlights show that 51,099 new client accounts were opened in 2022, most of them came from outside of Switzerland, bringing the total number of clients above the 500k threshold for the first time.
Net crypto assets income was impacted significantly by the crypto market turmoil, declining 72.9 percent to CHF 27.7 million (6.8 percent of net revenues). However, Switzerland’s largest online bank says it is well positioned to benefit from the consolidation it anticipates in the crypto industry.
“Swissquote’s own crypto exchange SQX was successfully launched in September 2022. It is likely that the crypto industry may face an important period of transition with increased regulation. Swissquote sees itself uniquely positioned with SQX,” it said.
