As announced by the headquarters in Luxembourg, the company has become profitable on a group level for the first time since 2020. The newly published 2023 financial statements show a post-tax profit of 1,1 million euro. In the previous year, there was a loss of 20,1 million euro.

The revenue amounted to 58,2 million euro (2022: 46.4 million), with 28,1 million from interest income, 15,3 million from commission income, 9,7 million from financial investments, and 5,0 million from other income sources.

«Return to Profitability»

The balance sheet total amounted to 1,4 billion euro at the end of 2023 (largely unchanged from 2022), and the Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio was 30,6 percent.

Marc Arand, CEO of Banque Havilland, looks back on a «transformative» year. «The return to profitability marks an important milestone on our strategic journey.» The bank is increasingly focusing on its core business of wealth management and simplifying its organization.

Strong Numbers from Vaduz

In addition to the headquarters in Luxembourg, the Havilland Group consists of subsidiaries in Monaco and Liechtenstein.

Much indicates that the appealing annual result is primarily due to the good performance of the Liechtenstein unit, which also operates a branch in Zurich: according to its own 2023 annual report, it turned a loss of 11,5 million Swiss francs (2022) into a profit of 5,5 million Swiss francs (2023, reported by finews.ch).

It is therefore not surprising that Banque Havilland plans to increasingly focus on Liechtenstein and Switzerland in the future.

A Fog of Questions

However, the 2023 annual report of the Havilland Group is also shrouded in a fog of questions.

The bank does not provide information on assets under management (AuM) and net new money at the group level. It is only known that the Liechtenstein unit achieved a remarkable result with around 500 million in net new money (plus 40 percent).

No figures are disclosed at the group level: «Banque Havilland generally does not communicate AuM figures at the group level. The Liechtenstein unit reports the figures due to local regulatory requirements.»

Correction of Loss from 17 to 23 Million

The Country-by-Country Reporting of Banque Havilland, which details the revenues and profits for the units in Luxembourg, Monaco, and Liechtenstein, in addition to the now non-operational London branch, appears peculiar.

For the year 2022, the company stated in the published annual report that the headquarters in Luxembourg had incurred a loss of 17,4 million euro. In the now published 2023 annual report, this reported loss for 2022 increases to 23,4 million euro, precisely by six million euro.

Divergences for 2022

However, there is no corrected 2022 annual report, as according to the bank, the 2022 annual report «has long been published and a table in the notes does not significantly affect the financial statements as such.»

While the Country-by-Country Reporting shows figures for 2023 for the Liechtenstein unit with a profit of 7,6 million euro that approximately match the annual report of the Liechtenstein unit (profit of 5,5 million Swiss francs after taxes), they diverge substantially for 2022: the Liechtenstein unit reported a loss of 11,5 million Swiss francs in its annual report, while the group reported a profit of 7,6 million Swiss francs for Liechtenstein in the Country-by-Country Reporting.

«Different Accounting Standards»

According to the bank, the discrepancy is due to the «different accounting standards between Liechtenstein and Luxembourg, where the valuation of certain assets is recorded differently.»

The Luxembourg bank is also not very forthcoming on the topic of regulatory provisions. The amount remained unchanged between the end of 2022 and the end of 2023: 6,4 million euro are set aside.

Threatening 10-Million Fine in the UK, Problems in Monaco

The bank would not disclose what exactly these provisions relate to. The provision «indeed relates to regulatory proceedings.» However, «for legal and regulatory reasons, further details cannot be provided.»

It is assumed that part of it concerns a threatening 10-million-pound fine from the Financial Conduct Authority in London, which Banque Havilland is legally contesting.

Just days ago, it became known that the head of Banque Havilland's Monaco unit is under investigation in Monaco in connection with a money laundering case, as reported by Bloomberg (article requires a subscription).

Strategy is Working

From the perspective of Banque Havilland in Luxembourg, the good 2023 annual result is an indication that the «Strategy ‘Excellence 2024’ of the bank,» which began in 2022, is on track. «We expect the effects of this strategy to become more evident in the coming years.»