Julius Baer: We Estimate a 26% Increase in Pretax Profits

Wide-moat Julius Baer does not report full quarterly results, but in a trading update spanning the first four months of 2021 it disclosed a strong performance on some of its key metrics. From the disclosure we estimate that Julius Baer saw a 26% year-on-year increase in pretax profits compared with the same time period a year ago. It disclosed assets under management of CHF 470 billion at the end of April 2021 supported by net new money inflows of 4% annualised and strong global markets. Gross margins declined to 90 basis points from the 95 basis points it reported a year ago. Execution on its cost savings program saw the cost to income ratio improve to 60% compared with the 64% it recorded a year earlier. We maintain our wide moat rating and our CHF 57 per share fair value estimate.