Zürcher Kantonalbank reported a pre-tax profit of 761 million francs, up 10.4 percent year-on-year. Net income after tax rose 11.1 percent to 668 million francs, ZKB announced on Friday.

«Our operating performance improved across all segments, and we achieved broad-based growth in our core business, reflected in higher operating income,» said CEO Urs Baumann.

In interest operations, results were lower. Net interest income amounted to 822 million francs, a decrease of 4.2 percent. Mortgage receivables increased by 2.5 billion francs, or 2.4 percent, to 109.1 billion francs compared with year-end 2024. On the liabilities side, customer deposits rose from 107.0 billion francs to 109.0 billion francs.

Growth in Commission and Services Business

In commission and services business, net income increased by 4.2 percent to 530 million francs. This was primarily due to commission income from securities and investment business, which rose by 8.9 percent to 606 million francs.

Client assets increased by around 13.6 billion since the beginning of the year to 534.4 billion francs, the statement continued. These consist of assets under management (465.1 billion) as well as assets with custody services (69.3 billion).

New net money inflows amounted to 7.4 billion francs and were broadly diversified, according to ZKB. This clearly exceeded the reduction of assets under management of 3.2 billion francs net resulting from the sale of Zürcher Kantonalbank Österreich.

Trading income, finally, rose by 32 percent to 233 million francs. The very strong trading result reflected the dynamic market environment, which was characterized by uncertainty due to U.S. tariff policies and geopolitical tensions. «The opportunities arising from market volatility were successfully seized.»

Overall, operating income rose by 2.6 percent to 1.6 billion francs.

More Staff and Higher Expenses

Business growth led to a higher number of employees and increased costs. The workforce grew by 98 full-time equivalents since the end of June 2024 to a total of 5,750.
Personnel expenses rose by 2.2 percent to 625 million francs and general expenses by 4.4 percent to 259 million francs.

The cost-income ratio (CIR) remained unchanged compared to the previous-year period at 54.7 percent and thus within the target range, the report added.

Depreciation and provisions were lower. Extraordinary income of 62 million francs was mainly attributable to the successful sale of Zürcher Kantonalbank Österreich to Liechtensteinische Landesbank. The transaction was completed on January 9 2025.

The Total Loss-Absorbing Capacity (risk-based TLAC ratio) stood at 31.5 percent as of 30 June, compared with 25.7 percent year-end 2024. This gives the bank an extremely strong capitalization, significantly above the capital requirement of 20.7 percent for a systemically important bank. The risk-based «going-concern» equity capital ratio was 22.5 percent at mid-year (end 2024: 18.0 percent).

«Attractive» Full-Year Result Expected

Management continues to expect uncertainty and volatility for the remainder of the year. «Thanks to our diversified business model, we are able to achieve attractive results even in a challenging environment,» said the CEO. He expressed confidence that ZKB will once again deliver a «very attractive full-year result».