Euro investments push central bank into red
The Swiss National Bank (SNB) reports a loss of SFr2.8 billion ($2.67 billion) for the first half of the year, a result which is better than it expected.
The bank’s first-half figures were affected by valuation losses in investments in euros, carried out to try to prevent the strong Swiss franc from further appreciation.
Total exchange rate losses for the period totalled SFr14.3 billion.
In a statement on Friday, the bank said the extent of the loss was limited by the rise in the price of gold and earnings on foreign currency investments.
The stabilisation fund for Swiss bank UBS contributed a profit of SFr1.3 billion to the result.
In July, the SNB said it was expecting a first-half loss of SFr4 billion but this did not take into account profit from the stabilisation fund.
The bank made a profit of SFr5.2 billion in the same period last year.
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