Half Year 2026 Swissquote Group Holding SA Earnings Call Transcript
Key Points
- Client assets reached a record CHF96.3 billion, up 19.8% year-over-year, with CHF5.1 billion in net new money, the second-best half-year result ever.
- Net new money inflows were strong across all key regions, with Switzerland contributing CHF2.7 billion and Europe CHF1.7 billion, driven by Benelux, France, and Germany.
- The company reaffirmed its 2028 guidance of CHF500 million pre-tax profit and CHF900 million revenue, supported by a robust growth engine and over-delivery on net new money targets.
- Interest income is expected to be higher in 2026 than in 2025, benefiting from better-than-expected interest rate developments and a growing Lombard loan portfolio.
- The company is making significant investments in AI, with a CHF30 million investment over 18 months, aiming to reduce development cycle times by 25-30% and enhance client interaction automation.
- Swissquote obtained a CASP MiCA license, ensuring its ability to continue offering cryptocurrency trading in Europe, a key regulatory milestone.
- The securities lending business is growing rapidly, with H1 2026 revenues already matching the full-year 2025 figure, and the company targets CHF10-15 million in 2026.
- The company is approaching Category 3 bank status, which will bring increased regulatory scrutiny but also reflects its growth and scale.
- Yuh, the neobank, continues to grow, with 423,000 clients and a new sponsorship deal with Young Boys to accelerate growth toward its 500,000 client target.
- The company maintains a strong capital position and a stable capital ratio, with a clear capital allocation strategy including potential additional distributions in 2027.
- Crypto asset revenue was significantly below expectations, with only CHF14 million in H1 2026 versus a budgeted CHF85 million for the full year, due to extremely low volatility in Bitcoin.
- The company recognized a CHF5 million negative mark-to-market on its crypto inventory, reflecting a 40-50% decline in crypto prices during the period.
- The revised 2026 guidance of CHF730 million revenue and CHF365 million pre-tax profit is conservative, implying a flat performance compared to 2025 (excluding one-offs).
- Average client assets slowed down due to lower volatility, which is expected to be a short-term impact but could persist if market conditions remain subdued.
- Operating expenses increased, with marketing costs up 14% and depreciation rising due to the Yuh acquisition, impacting operating leverage.
- The company faces intense competition in Europe from deep discount brokers like Trade Republic and neobanks like Revolut, which could pressure margins.
- The transition to Category 3 bank status will bring higher regulatory costs and increased scrutiny, including more frequent FINMA onsite visits.
- The company's AI investments, while promising, will continue to add costs (CHF15 million in 2026, CHF10 million each in 2027 and 2028), which could weigh on profitability.
- The company is being more selective with clients, leading to some outflows in the rest of the world, which could limit growth in certain regions.
- The net interest income guidance implies a decline in H2 2026 versus H1, reflecting conservative assumptions on interest rates and balance sheet growth.
Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. Thank you for joining us to our press conference for our first-half results 2026. We are here at our headquarter in Gland, and I am with our CFO, Yvan Cardenas, and we both will go through the presentation. I hope you had a chance of downloading our PowerPoint presentation, otherwise, you can follow this here on the screen. We will go through the slides, and then at the end, we will have time for some questions.
I will immediately start with the first slide. We had a good half year in terms of growth. The clients' assets are at the absolute record level. We are now close to CHF100 billion of assets at CHF96.3 billion. That is a plus of 19.8% compared to one year ago. Also, in terms of net new money, it is almost one of the best half year we ever had. Purely organic growth of assets at CHF5.1 billion. So in total, we now have more than 1.2 accounts. The revenues we generated with our clients amounted to CHF364.2 million of net revenues. That is also a plus of 1
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