Swiss National Bank records H1 heavy losses

Swiss National Bank (SNB) has taken a hit of CHF95.2 billion ($100 billion) for the first half of this year, mainly owing to losses CHF97.4 billion on foreign currency positions, said in a statement Friday.

SNB emphasised that its results depend largely on developments in the gold, foreign exchange and capital markets.

Stock market declines, falling bond prices and the franc’s appreciation severely dented the value of its massive foreign currency holdings.

The statement added, “strong fluctuations are therefore to be expected, and only provisional conclusions are possible as regards the annual result.”

The bank has recorded in Q1 a loss of CHF32.8, following another CHF62.4 billion was added in Q2, as it had been expected, but the figure is higher than economists had predicted.

In 2021 the SNB had posted a profit of over CHF26 billion at the end of the year, with the first and second quarters being positive and the third and fourth quarters negative.

However, there are also years with significant losses, mainly owing to a weak stock market performance or a very strong franc.