Julius Baer Warns on Profit After $186 Million Loan Charge
(Bloomberg) — Julius Baer Group Ltd. said full-year profit for 2025 would be lower than last year, as it booked a 150 million Swiss franc ($186 million) loan-loss provision on real estate lending amid an ongoing cleanup of the bank.
Wealthy clients have added a net 11.7 billion Swiss francs in the ten months through October, the Zurich-based bank said in its interim statement Monday. That’s higher than in the same period in 2024. Assets under management grew 4% in the first ten months to 520 billion Swiss francs.
Chief Executive Officer Stefan Bollinger and Chairman Noel Quinn are seeking to refocus the bank after losses linked to the collapse of Rene Benko’s real estate empire prompted the wealth manager to shake up its top management. Swiss regulator Finma is currently conducting an investigation into the affair.
Julius Baer said it has completed a credit review announced in May and has decided to “manage down a subset of loan book positions” primarily in residential and commercial real estate, amounting to 700 million francs.
As a result of one-off factors including the after-tax impact of net credit losses booked in 2025, full-year profit will be less than that of 2024, the bank said. “Underlying profitability and capital generation remain strong,” it said.
The bank announced that Victoria McLean is joining the bank from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to take on the newly established chief compliance officer role, also becoming a member of the executive board. As McLean will not start before the end of February 2026, the bank is not in a position to ask Finma for a resumption of buybacks until that happens, Bollinger said on a call with journalists Monday.
After writing off $700 million in loans when Benko’s conglomerate unraveled in late 2023, Baer shut down its private-debt business and has been winding down its private-debt loan book.
The stock has been one of the worst performing among the European banks this year.
As part of his turnaround plan, the new CEO has slashed the top management ranks and announced hundreds of job cuts.
Monday’s release signaled that the bank is making progress on controlling costs, with the adjusted cost-income ratio at 66%, down from last year and in line with the bank’s targets.
(Updates with 2025 profit outlook)
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