BCV Group results at 30 September 2007: gross profit up 6%

BCV Group’s gross profit was up 6%* year-on-year thanks to continued revenue growth and tight cost control.

Revenues up 3%

Total revenues in the first nine months of 2007 climbed 3% (YoY) to CHF 849m. Excluding the effects of the transfer of IT subsidiary Unicible's operations to IBM on 1 June, the increase in total revenues would have been 7%. Interest income amounted to CHF 380m, a rise of 6% YoY. Fee and commission income grew 6% to CHF 288m thanks to favorable stockmarket conditions. Trading income was unchanged at CHF 71m. Other ordinary income was down 8% to CHF 111m, mainly reflecting the effects of the Unicible-IBM transaction.

Gross profit up 6%

Personnel costs were down 5% to CHF 266m, while other operating expenses rose 10% to CHF 153m. Overall, total operating expenses were stable at CHF 419m; excluding the effects of the Unicible-IBM transaction, they would have been up 5%. This trend reflects the Group's commitment to maintaining a firm grip on costs. Revenue growth and cost control underpinned a 6% rise in gross profit to CHF 430m (excluding the effects of the Unicible-IBM transaction, the increase would have been 10%). These results are in line with previous guidance of a rise in full-year gross profit.

Total assets rise

Total assets stood at CHF 36.1bn at 30 September, up 9.3% compared with end-2006. This rise mainly reflects interbank operations (up 55% or CHF 2.5bn to CHF 7.2bn) and trading operations (up 56% or CHF 786m to CHF 2.2bn). Excluding the effect of reductions in impaired loans, mortgage lending rose CHF 331m (+2%), while commercial lending volumes grew by CHF 135m (+2.4%). On the liabilities side, savings deposits and other funds due to customers climbed CHF 1.245bn (+7%). Mirroring developments on the assets side, the item “Due to banks” increased CHF 2bn (+95%) to CHF 4bn as a result of the rise in interbank operations.
In the first nine months of 2007, the Group's assets under management grew by CHF 3.4bn to CHF 84.1bn, with net new funds coming in at CHF 1.6bn.

Q3 highlights

In the third quarter, BCV and Zurich Kantonalbank began implementation of their planned joint IT / back-office project, which is moving ahead as scheduled.

BCV Group was also the subject of positive ratings newsflow. Standard & Poor's raised its long-term rating on BCV from A (stable) to A+ (stable), and Moody's issued ratings of A1 (stable) for BCV's long-term deposits and Prime-1 (stable) for its short-term deposits.

Favorable outlook

As previously noted, BCV Group is not exposed to the subprime market. Therefore, barring any major changes in the economic environment or in financial market trends and given the Group's good business performance in the first nine months of the year, Management confirms its previous guidance: 2007 gross profit is expected to show a year-on-year increase, with a smaller percentage gain than in recent reporting years.

Lausanne, Switzerland

13 November 2007

* Unaudited figures

Contact(s)

Paul Coudret, Press Relations
Phone +41 21 212 22 51
E-mail

Wilhelm Blaeuer, Investor relations
Phone + 41 21 212 20 71
E-mail

This press release is being issued outside the trading hours of the SIX, Swiss Exchange in order to comply with the principles of ad hoc disclosure pursuant to the SIX listing rules.

The above text is a translation of the original French document entitled "Groupe BCV au 30 septembre 2007 : résultat brut en hausse de 6%*"; only the French version is authoritative.