SNB profit, a tale of currency movements
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – A net profit of CHF1.9 billion for the first three months of 2011 at The Swiss National Bank was due largely to currency fluctuations, the central bank said Friday 29 April. The net result from foreign currency positions was CHF1.6 billion, while losses from Swiss franc holdings were CHF106 million.
Euro appreciation led to exchange rate gains
The bank says that the Swiss franc depreciated against European currencies from January to 31 March, ” leading to exchange rate gains, especially on euro holdings. A depreciation in the US dollar and the yen, however, meant that the overall exchange rate gain amounted to CHF 2.4 billion. A slight rise in interest rates depressed prices of interest-bearing instruments by CHF 2.9 billion. Interest income on these securities of CHF 1.4 billion and price gains on equity securities of CHF 0.6 billion were not sufficient to offset the fall in prices.”
Gold contributed little, UBS loan repayments reduce risk
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - International financial media are greeting first quarter figures from UBS with gloomy headlines, despite higher profits posted by the bank in its first quarter results Tuesday morning. UBS published figures showing pre-tax Q1 profits of CHF1.8 million, up over the previous quarter (CHF1.7b), but 18 percent lower than the CHF2.2b Q1 profits in 2010.
Bloomberg, oddly, initially carried a headline of “UBS posts decline in quarterly net on lower securities earnings” but changed the heading to the more upbeat “UBS attracts highest inflows since 2007 as profit tops estimates”.
The bank’s note that net new money is up, “with positive net flows recorded across all of our asset-gathering businesses confirming the return of client trust and confidence”. New money rose from CHF7.1 billion in Q4 2010 to CHF22.3b. The issue of new money has been watched closely by analysts in recent months. Reuters recalls that “clients pulled nearly 400 billion francs from the world’s second-largest wealth manager in recent years after UBS was bailed out following huge writedowns on toxic assets and was hit by US charges that it helped wealthy Americans dodge tax.”
First three quarters 2010 show CHF8.46b loss due to foreign currency holdings
UBS bailout fund “positive”
A fistful of dollars isn't what it was a year ago, same for euros
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Swiss National Bank (SNB) has posted a loss of CHF8.46 billion for the first nine months of 2010, due largely to its foreign currency holdings. Exchange rate losses totalled CHF21.2b during the first three quarters, with the euro trading 10.3 percent lower than at end-2009 and the US dollar falling 5.4 percent in the same period.
A year earlier the SNB showed a CHF6.89b profit for the same period.
The loss is before allocation to provisions for currency reserves, which the SNB is required to set up to maintain currency reserves at a level needed for monetary policy.
China now appears likely to be the world’s second largest economy in 2010, after the US, based on GDP (gross domestic product); it had already overtaken Japan for quarterly growth by the end of 2009. It has held the number two position since 1968, when it took it over from West Germany. The latest quarterly figures for Japan show slow growth for the second quarter, only 0.4 percent (annualized, with seasonal adjustments), while China continues to grow steadily. Official figures for both will be available only at the end of 2010, but the Financial Times reports that figures released 16 August are well below the 2.3 percent growth rate expected by most analysts. The economies are difficult to compare for a number of reasons, and China is generally considered to under-report its growth, but the latest figures confirm the trend that China’s influence is outstripping that of Japan.
Links to other sites: New York Times, Guardian, UK, Xinhua
Apple’s second financial period quarterly report “soared” past analyst’s expectations, reports Reuters. Profits rose to $1.21 ($1.05m in Q1 2008) and net income rose to $8.16 billion, an increase of 8.7 percent over the same period a year earlier. The ongoing love affair with iPhones and iPods is credited with the strong sales, and shares rose 3 percent on the news.
Romanel-sur-Morges, Vaud, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Logitech shares fell 10% Tuesday morning after announcing a nearly 70% slide in profits. Net income is listed as $40.5 million. The 27-year-old Swiss and US company has long been one of the most resilient around, with double-digit increases in profits every quarter for several years.
