Record year for cantonal banks
Switzerland's 24 cantonal banks more than doubled net profit last year, recording a total figure of SFr922 million ($536.05 million).
The Association of Cantonal Banks said on Friday that some SFr589 million of the income would flow into the cantons’ coffers.
Announcing the record figures, the Association said reserves for general banking risks had increased by almost 12 per cent and now stood at SFr6.76 billion.
The total balance sum of the cantonal banks rose by 2.4 per cent to SFr303 billion.
The Association said there had been growing interest in variable mortgages last year after a long period of demand for fixed-rate mortgages.
Commenting on the outlook for this year, the Association was cautious, saying that most of its member banks felt that last year’s performance would not be repeated, not least as a result of the present stock exchange uncertainties.
swissinfo with agencies
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.