Julius Baer's first-half profit falls 35% on loan provisions, Brazil unit sale

[BERN] Swiss bank Julius Baer posted a first-half profit of 295 million francs (S$473.5 million) on Tuesday (Jul 22), down 35 per cent year-on-year, pressured by loan loss provisions and a charge related to the sale of its Brazilian wealth management unit.

The decline reflected earlier-flagged writedown of 130 million Swiss francs, the bank said, adding that it made strong progress on legacy issues.

“We are now in full execution mode of our strategic agenda, focused on our core wealth management lane, balancing sustainable growth and cost discipline with strengthened risk management,” CEO Stefan Bollinger told journalists.

To date, the bank had no additional loan loss allowances to report, Bollinger added.

“Once the credit review has been completed, we’ll be in a position to decide whether or not additional loan loss allowances are required,” he said.

Net new money more than doubled year-on-year to 7.9 billion Swiss francs, bringing assets under management to 483 billion francs, as of end-June, Julius Baer said in its half-year results presentation.

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Positive effects of solid net new money and rising global equity market valuations were more than offset by the impact of the weaker US dollar and the sale of Julius Baer Brazil in March 2025, the bank said.

The bank is on track to achieve 130 million Swiss francs in additional gross cost savings by the end of 2025, according to the statement. REUTERS