Swissquote, an online banking service provider, has released its financial results for the first half of 2018. The firm, which is based in Switzerland, reached new year-on-year records. Revenue, in particular, enjoyed a strong rise in the first half of the year.
In the first half of 2018 operating revenue was up significantly by 30.3 percent year-on-year, coming in at CHF 118 million. Net revenues for the first half also saw a notable increase of 21% from the half of 2017, at CHF 112.8 million.
Although this figure was still up year-on-year, it was dragged down two main factors. The first was the “unrealized fair value” item, which saw the company lose CHF 1 million. The second factor was negative interest rates, which cost the firm CHF 4.2 million.
eForex sets new record for Swissquote
Often a solid performer for the company, eForex income has once again posted solid results. In the first half of this year, it set a new record for the company as it jumped by 7.5 percent to CHF 35.1 million. This growth can be largely attributed to a 20.2 percent rise in the trading volume to US$594.4 billion. Net trading income was also up by 13.4 percent to CHF 11.7 million. This figure is based on currency trading and excludes eForex trading.
Net fee and commission income was also up by 42.8 percent from the same period last year at CHF 55.6 million. This is an increase of CHF 16.7 million. Half of this increase was due to an increase in client accounts and trading activities. The other CHF 8 million was achieved in the firm’s cryptocurrency business.
The rise in revenues came in spite of an increase in expenses. Operating expenses amounted to CHF 82 million in the first half of this year. This is an increase of 21.2 percent compared to the first half of 2017. The increase in costs was largely driven by constant investment in technology, Marketing , and personnel. However, for the second half of the year, the company expects its expenses to be more modest.
Another notable achievement of the company in the six months ended June 30, 2018, was that its client's assets surpassed CHF 25 billion. Due to an increase in client assets of 20.6 percent, the total value reached CHF 25.5 billion.
Not only did client assets rise, but also the total number of accounts rose by 18,977 or 6.3 percent from the same period in 2017 to 322,032. From these accounts, 42,986 accounts were eForex accounts. This was an increase of 13.5 percent year-on-year.
