Swiss National Bank reports CHF 26.1 billion profit for 2025, enabling distributions

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) reported a profit of CHF 26.1 billion for the 2025 financial year, a significant reduction from the CHF 80.7 billion profit of the previous year.

This outcome was primarily influenced by an CHF 8.8 billion loss on foreign currency positions, largely offset by a substantial revaluation gain of CHF 36.3 billion on its gold holdings.

A loss of CHF 0.9 billion was also recorded on Swiss franc positions, with operating expenses totaling CHF 0.4 billion.

The SNB allocated CHF 12.7 billion to its provisions for currency reserves, a measure crucial for maintaining a robust balance sheet and absorbing potential high losses.

This allocation, combined with the existing distribution reserve of CHF 12.9 billion, resulted in a balance sheet profit of CHF 26.3 billion.

Consequently, the SNB will pay a dividend of CHF 15 per share, the statutory maximum, and distribute a total of CHF 4 billion to the Confederation and cantons, as per a 2021 agreement.

The distribution reserve will stand at CHF 22.3 billion after these payouts.

The CHF 8.8 billion loss on foreign currency positions was largely attributable to significant exchange rate-related losses of CHF 53.1 billion.

This overshadowed positive contributions from interest and dividend income (CHF 12.8 billion and CHF 3.0 billion respectively) and capital gains on both interest-bearing and equity securities (CHF 1.3 billion and CHF 28.3 billion).

Conversely, the gold revaluation gain of CHF 36.3 billion was a direct result of a 45.9 percent surge in the gold price, which closed 2025 at CHF 110,919 per kilogram.

The CHF 0.9 billion loss on Swiss franc positions primarily arose from the remuneration of sight deposits on giro accounts and additional interest expenses from liquidity-absorbing operations.