BCV Q1 08 gross profit at CHF 60m

BCV Group posted a CHF 60m gross profit for the first quarter of 2008*. This figure was 62% below the year-earlier quarter, which was the most profitable in the history of the Bank. The decline mainly reflects the CHF 35m loss in trading activities announced on April 18th, but also stems from a drop in other ordinary income linked essentially to the end of operations at IT subsidiary Unicible. Management confirms that BCV remained profitable during Q1 08. In addition, the Bank finalized the disposal of its stake in subsidiary A&G and the transfer of its consumer-credit operations to Swiss One Finance.

Revenues down due to trading and the Unicible transfer

BCV Group's Q1 08 revenues declined 39% YoY to CHF 187m. The Bank’s main revenue streams performed as expected, but trading income declined, as announced on April 18th.

Net interest income was up 2% to CHF 126m. Fee and commission income was down 6% to CHF 88m, reflecting both the sale of the Group’s stake in Spanish subsidiary A&G and a drop-off in financial-market activities resulting from stockmarket turbulence in the period under review.

Trading posted a loss of CHF 35m caused by unfavorable conditions on the financial markets, notably during an extraordinarily difficult month of March. The losses concern Swiss equities and Swiss equity derivatives, and for the most part have not been realized. They were in no way linked to fraud, malfeasance or internal dysfunctions, and the Bank’s traders fully complied with BCV's risk-management framework at all times. In addition, Management confirms that BCV is not exposed to subprimes.

Other ordinary income amounted to CHF 8m in Q1, a CHF 48m decline from the previous-year period due principally to the transfer of IT subsidiary Unicible’s operations to IBM. This transfer accounted for CHF 27m of the decrease in this item, which was also reduced by lower income from disposals of financial investments.

Declines in gross profit and operating expenses

Total operating expenses were down 13% (or CHF 19m) to CHF 128m as a result of the Unicible transfer (on a like-for-like basis, they were stable). Gross profit fell to CHF 60m.

Total assets and business volumes on the rise

Total assets were up 4% YTD to CHF 36.6bn at 31 March. Amounts due from banks jumped 30%, and stood at CHF 8.3bn. The rise was a temporary technical phenomenon mainly related to the unwinding of forex transactions. Total loans and advances to customers were relatively stable (off 1%) at CHF 22bn. Mortgage lending volumes edged up by CHF 74m, while commercial lending dropped 4% (CHF 239m) as a result of reductions in trade finance activities and the transfer of the Bank’s consumer credit operations to Swiss One Finance. On the liabilities side, customer savings and investment accounts stabilized at CHF 8.1bn. Other customer accounts (mainly term deposits) were down 4%, or CHF 465m. Group AuM fell by 11% (CHF 9.5bn) to CHF 74.8bn; the sale of the Group’s stake in Spanish wealth management subsidiary A&G accounts for CHF 3.9bn of the decline, while the remainder relates to adverse financial-market conditions.

Outlook: solid financials unaltered

The Group’s disappointing first-quarter results do not affect the Bank's financial base, which remains solid, or the equity optimization strategy announced on 5 March 2008. In addition, both Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s have confirmed their credit ratings on BCV.

Based on BCV’s Q1 08 results, Management forecasts a decline in full-year 2008 gross and net profit.

Lausanne, Switzerland, 8 May 2008

* Unaudited figures

Contact(s)

Christian Jacot-Descombes, Press Officer
Phone + 41 21 212 28 61
E-mail

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

The above text is a translation of the original French document; only the French version is authoritative.

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.

Note to investors: Conference call has been set for 2:30pm Swiss time (GMT +1). Conference call documentation is available at www.bcv.ch.