Digital & Technology

Swissquote shares impressive H1 2020 Financial Results

In the first half of 2020, Swissquote surpassed all expectations: compared to the prior-year period, net revenues increased by 43.2% and pre-tax profit by 132.8%; 57,258 new client accounts were opened, and net new money inflow was CHF3.0 billion, the firm reported in a press statement.

For the year as a whole, Swissquote has revised its forecasts sharply upwards: it anticipates a pre-tax profit of CHF100 million on revenues of CHF300 million, read the press statement.

Revenues up by nearly half

Operating revenues reached a new record level of CHF162.7 million – an increase of 38.9% compared to the prior-year period, says the firm. The continuing massive influx of new clients since the beginning of the year, combined with the high volatility of financial markets, led to a significant increase in transactions and trading volumes in H1 2020, Swissquote reports.

Net profit more than doubled

At CHF102.3 million, operating expenses were 17.4% higher than in H1 2019. This increase was reportedly mainly due to higher personnel costs, half of this being attributable to the increase in the variable remuneration provision and the remainder to 65 additional employees. The 43.2% increase in net revenues combined with the rise in operating expenses of just 17.4% in 2020 resulted in absolute record profits for the firm.

More than 50,000 new accounts

Swissquote’s net new money inflow from purely organic growth also hit a new record and came in at CHF3.0 billion, says the firm. Despite difficult market conditions in H1 2020, client assets grew by 9.7% to CHF33.5 billion. As of the end of June 2020, clients reportedly held CHF32.6 billion, a 10% increase, in trading accounts, CHF255.3 million in savings accounts, CHF235.6 million in robo-advisory accounts, and CHF384.9 million in eForex accounts.

Steady expansion of service offering

In H1 2020, Swissquote reports that it implemented a number of projects, all of which were designed to expand and improve its range of services. Since March of this year, seven new cryptocurrencies were newly tradeable on the Swissquote platform. Online trading was also introduced for four additional stock exchanges: Australia, Singapore, Spain and Hong Kong.

Pre-tac profit of CHF100 million predicted in 2020

The continuation of the gratifying business trend and strong growth in new customers also led to good results in July 2020. Pre-tac profit for the month of July came to CHF10 million. For the year as a whole, the firm is now expecting a pre-tax profit of CHF100 million on revenues of CHF300 million, Swissquote reports.