ZURICH EFG International shares were up 3% early on Thursday after the Swiss private bank reported net profit of more than 240 million Swiss francs ($270.09 million) for the first 10 months of the year and expanded its share buyback program.
EFG reported 5.2 billion Swiss francs in net new assets for the year to date and said it had seen a positive impact from the more than 130 new client relationship officers [CROs] it has hired in 2023.
The bank's share price has risen more than 11% this year, and hit a year-high of 10.98 Swiss francs on Nov. 1.
"Several of our new CROs have already started to contribute meaningfully to asset inflows in the year to date, and we expect this trend to continue and to significantly accelerate our growth momentum in 2024 and beyond, given the strong pipeline of net new money," CEO Giorgio Pradelli said.
The bank said profitability in the 10-month period was a record.
The new money inflow corresponds to a growth rate of 5.2% since July, which represents good momentum. This is likely to accelerate further, Zuercher Kantonalbank analyst Michael Klien said.
EFG also said it will buy back up to 3 million additional shares by the end of April next year due to its strong capital position. This is on top of its existing commitment to repurchase up to 6 million shares by Sept. 11, 2024 .
At 144.1 billion Swiss francs, assets under management were only slightly higher than the 143.1 billion francs at the end of 2022. According to EFG, the growth in net new assets was largely offset by negative currency effects.
($1 = 0.8886 Swiss francs)
(Reporting by Noele Illien; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
