class = “sc-cffd1e67-0 iQNQmc”>
Operating income rose by 9.6 percent to 532.3 million francs in 2023, BEKB announced on Thursday. Meanwhile, operating expenses decreased slightly by 0.2 percent to 254.4 million francs, while operating income increased by 40 percent to 238.9 million francs.
Purely operational success, that is, success before changes in value adjustments due to the sale of financial assets or default risk and other effects, also increased by 40 percent to 246.9 million francs. Net profit increased by 9.6 percent to 174.9 million francs.
According to BEKB, the positive interest rate environment was an important factor in the good performance. Good refinancing with customer money and a positive sign on the basic interest rate caused net interest income to rise by almost a fifth to 376.5 million francs. However, commission (-3.7% to 104.9 million) and trading income (-35% to 24.3 million) fell.
While the balance sheet increased by 0.7 percent in general to 40.1 billion francs, BEKB increased its customer loans by 4.1 percent to 28.8 billion francs. Most of this was in the mortgage business, which grew by 3.3 percent. Meanwhile, client assets increased by 4.6 percent to 40.8 billion francs.
The increase in profits and the general capital ratio (Basel III), which remains stable at 19.6 percent, prompt the BEKB board of directors to propose a dividend payment of up to 10 francs per share, increased by 40 centimeters, at the next general assembly meeting.
The canton of Bern, which holds more than half of the BEKB, also benefits from this. Last year the canton received around 37 million francs in taxes and around 48 million francs in dividends.
In its own words, BEKB expects “another strong result” for the whole of 2024. The bank assumes that interest rates will rise slightly again in the long run. According to the assessment, Saron mortgages are likely to remain at current levels, while a modest increase in fixed-rate mortgages is expected. (SDA)
Source :Blick
I’m Tim David and I work as an author for 24 Instant News, covering the Market section. With a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism, my mission is to provide accurate, timely and insightful news coverage that helps our readers stay informed about the latest trends in the market. My writing style is focused on making complex economic topics easy to understand for everyone.
