Net income
The aggregate net income of banks in Switzerland grew by 5.8% year-on-year to reach an all-time high of CHF 73.8 bn. This increase was due to significant rises in the result from commission business and services and the other result from ordinary activities. Annual profit was up 16.3% year-on-year at CHF 20.6 bn.
The aggregate net income of all banks in Switzerland grew to CHF 73.8 bn in 2025. The 5.8% increase compared with the prior year was the largest for five years. It was attributable in particular to higher net income for the big banks (up 11.5%), which made up for the 7.8% fall they recorded in 2024. However, both the foreign banks (up 4.5%) and the stock exchange banks (up 3.5%) also saw strong increases in aggregate net income. Broken down by activity, the result from commission business and services was up 6.5%, and the other result from ordinary activities was up 26.6%, more than compensating for the marginal declines in the results from interest operations (down 0.8%) and trading activities (down 1.5%). The result from commission business and services points to increased customer activity on financial markets, whereas the higher other result from ordinary activities stems from a marked rise in income from participations for the big and foreign banks. The downturn in the result from interest operations reflects the current zero interest rate policy, which is depressing margins. As the big banks’ net income grew, so did their share of aggregate net income – for the first time since 2020. This caused the shares of all other categories to fall slightly.
TRENDS IN 2026
Banks expecting higher net income for 2026 despite challenging environment
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Trends in 2025
Net income by banking activity
Aggregate net income comprises the results from interest operations, commission business and services, and trading activities as well as the other result from ordinary activities. The 5.8% growth in aggregate net income in 2025 was largely due to improvements in the result from commission business and services and the other result from ordinary activities.
The share of net income made up by the result from interest operations fell by 1.9 percentage points to 28.3%, and in absolute terms from CHF 21.1 bn to CHF 20.9 bn. The shift in income structure that had begun in 2024 thus continued. Lower interest rates led to a sharp fall in interest income, which was down CHF 20.9 bn or 24.1%. At the same time, interest expense was CHF 20.8 bn or 31.6% lower, causing the result from interest operations to remain largely stable (down 0.8%). As the SNB’s headline interest rates have edged down since the middle of 2023, the banks’ refinancing costs have decreased. This has affected interest expense with a certain time lag, making the fall in the result from interest operations less severe. The result from trading activities also fell marginally, from CHF 15.1 bn to CHF 14.9 bn.
The largest share of net income was contributed once again by the result from commission business and services with 32.3% (up 0.2 of a percentage point), which increased further as it had in 2024 to CHF 21.8 bn (this time by 6.5%). While commission expense was higher year-on-year, it was outweighed by the increase in commission income from securities and investment business. This points to increased customer activity on financial markets. The biggest relative increase in 2025 was recorded by the other result from ordinary activities, which had fallen sharply in the prior year. Helped by a significant rise in income from participations for the big and foreign banks, it reached CHF 14.1 bn, the second-highest figure seen in the past ten years, and was thus back at the level from before the slump in 2024.
Figure 7
Net income by bank category
Figure 8
Compared with 2024, the big banks in particular were able to increase their aggregate net income significantly. The foreign and stock exchange banks also posted rises. Due to their disproportionate increase in net income, however, the big banks were the only category showing growth in its share of total net income, while the other categories’ shares contracted slightly.
The big banks saw their share of aggregate net income increase year-on-year for the first time since 2020. It grew by 2.2 percentage points to 43.3% as their net income was CHF 3.3 bn or 11.5% higher. This was due to the result from interest operations (up CHF 1.5 bn or 68.2%), the result from commission business and services (up CHF 590 mn or 7.5%) and the other result from ordinary activities (up CHF 2.1 bn or 24.62%), while trading activities were down. The big banks were thus the only category to show a rise in its result from interest operations. This was caused by their interest expense dropping much more sharply than their interest income. The high other result from ordinary activities was due in particular to a marked rise in income from participations. The foreign and stock exchange banks also increased their aggregate net income year-on-year, with the foreign banks showing a rise of CHF 404.6 mn or 4.5% and the stock exchange banks CHF 373.3 mn or 3.5%. For the foreign banks, this was attributable first and foremost to a higher result from commission business and services (up 6.4%) and a sharp rise in other income from ordinary activities (up 83.6%). The latter figure was bolstered by much higher income from participations, as was the case for the big banks. For the stock exchange banks, meanwhile, the increase was primarily driven by the result from trading activities, which was up CHF 638.4 mn or 30.4%.
The big banks’ considerable rise in aggregate net income caused all other bank categories’ shares to contract, albeit only slightly (by between 0.1 and 0.9 of a percentage point).
Overall, two different trends are discernible in aggregate net income. On the one hand, the result from commission business and services (up 6.5%) was higher in all categories, and the other result from ordinary activities (up 26.6%) grew especially strongly for the big and foreign banks. On the other, the results from interest operations (down 0.8%) and trading activities (down 1.5%) fell slightly at the aggregate level. The big banks performed very differently from the other categories in terms of the result from interest operations, posting a 68.2% increase. They were the only category with a marked rise – the others ranged from a slight increase of 0.7% to a decrease of 28.5%. The picture was also mixed as regards trading activities, with rises for the cantonal banks (9.1%), the Raiffeisen banks (13.0%) and the stock exchange banks (30.4%) and the other categories posting falls of between 1.5% and 20.2%.
Shifts in the relative importance of the various categories that make up the Swiss banking landscape can be observed in a multi-year comparison. The stock exchange banks have increased their share of total net income considerably over the long term and remained well above the multi-year average in 2025 with 14.8%. The cantonal banks also had an above-average share of 15.3%, while the regional, savings and Raiffeisen banks and private bankers were largely in line with their multi-year averages. Despite a slight decline in 2025, the foreign banks were able to maintain their share, which had been showing renewed growth since 2020, at a high level of 12.6%. With a 43.3% share of total net income, the big banks halted the downturn of recent years with their first increase since 2022.
Foreign banks: subsidiaries and branches
Larger banks have a physical presence in various countries, often in the interests of market access. Almost 100 foreign-controlled banks operate in Switzerland, employing more than 16,000 people and thus contributing substantially to the success of the Swiss banking centre. These foreign banks’ Swiss operations fall into two main categories from a legal point of view: subsidiaries and branches. A subsidiary is a bank set up under Swiss law but controlled by a foreign parent company. It is a legal entity in its own right and can independently conclude contracts with customers. A branch, on the other hand, does not qualify as a separate, independent legal entity and can therefore only operate on behalf of the foreign parent bank, not for itself. Since it does not have a balance sheet of its own, it is not subject to certain FINMA requirements, including the Capital Adequacy Ordinance (CAO), but it must be authorised and supervised by FINMA. Both subsidiaries and branches must comply with FINMA’s regulations, ordinances and circulars. The vast majority of foreign bank branches in Switzerland are in supervisory categories 4 and 5.
Annual profit and taxes
Figure 9
The earnings situation at Switzerland’s banks improved markedly in 2025. Thanks to higher operating income and slightly lower operating expenses, annual profit rose by 16.3% to CHF 20.6 bn despite a sharp fall in extraordinary income compared with 2024.
The 5.8% increase in aggregate net income translated into a gross operating profit of CHF 28.4 bn in 2025, up CHF 4.5 bn or 18.9% year-on-year. Operating expenses, comprising personnel and administrative expenses, fell by 1.1%. This was entirely due to a 3.1% drop in administrative expenses, with personnel expenses rising marginally (up 0.8%).
After deducting depreciation, amortisation, value adjustments and provisions, the Swiss banks’ operating result was up 23.9% at CHF 22.1 bn. Total depreciation, amortisation, value adjustments and provisions rose slightly year-on-year by CHF 256.2 mn or 4.2%, although this was mainly due to a sharp increase of 46.3% in depreciation and amortisation. Value adjustments and provisions, meanwhile, were some 60.1% lower. In view of the higher gross operating profit, the impact of higher deductions was minimal, merely reducing the increase in the operating result by a small amount.
Extraordinary income fell significantly in 2025, as it had in the previous year. It dropped from CHF 4.1 bn in 2024 to CHF 1.9 bn in 2025, thus returning to a level in line with the multi-year average (CHF 2.3 bn between 2016 and 2022) for the first time since 2023, when it was exceptionally high. The decline is almost exclusively attributable to the big banks, which recorded extraordinary income of CHF 18.7 bn in 2023 in connection with the takeover of Credit Suisse. This suggests that the one-time effects of the takeover were largely exhausted in 2025. After deducting extraordinary expenses, the Swiss banks posted extraordinary net income of CHF 1.4 bn. They paid CHF 2.4 bn in taxes, CHF 0.1 bn or 5.6% less than in the previous year. Taxes paid do not necessarily reflect the trend in net income due to its composition, changes in the period for which taxes are booked and losses being carried forward.
In summary, annual profit (result of the period) amounted to CHF 20.6 bn, up CHF 2.9 bn or 16.3% on the year-back figure of CHF 17.7 bn. This marked rise was due to higher operating income and slightly lower operating expenses more than offsetting the impact of higher depreciation and amortisation and lower extraordinary income.
Banks expecting higher net income for 2026 despite challenging environment
According to the Swiss Banking Outlook, a majority of the banks in Switzerland are expecting net income to be higher in 2026. While the zero interest rate policy is weighing on interest operations, buoyant stock markets and increased customer activity should boost commission business and services as well as, to some extent, trading activities.
The financial market experts who took part in the Swiss Banking Outlook survey expect decidedly below-average GDP growth of 1.0% in 2026. Higher energy prices as well as ongoing geopolitical and trade policy uncertainty are having a negative impact on economic activity around the world. At the same time, monetary policies in the major currency blocs have continued to diverge: while the SNB left its headline rate at zero in June, the ECB hiked its rate to 2.4% in June, and the Fed’s target range has been at 3.5–3.75% since December 2025.
Despite this challenging environment, the survey respondents expressed confidence, with 53% expecting aggregate net income to be higher year-on-year in 2026 and 33% expecting it to remain stable. None of them expect it to fall. This positive outlook stems from differing growth expectations in the various areas of business.
The biggest impetus is likely to come from commission business and services, where 73% of the experts anticipate a higher result. This can be attributed to the fact that volatile markets are often associated with higher customer activity on financial markets, and higher market values in principle increase the basis for asset-dependent fees. Following a slump in prices in March, stock markets started to recover. The SMI had achieved a year-to-date gain of around 7.5%, the EURO STOXX 50 7.2% and the S&P 500 8.7% by mid-July. The Swiss franc appreciated against both the US dollar and the euro at the start of the year but was back down at a similar level to that seen at the end of 2025 by July.
Trading activities are also set to profit from increased financial market volatility. Significant price fluctuations on the stock, bond, commodity and currency markets often go hand in hand with higher trading volumes and stronger customer demand for hedging and trades. Some 40% of respondents thus expect higher income here, with 33% anticipating a stable trend. The result from interest operations, meanwhile, is likely to stay at a modest level: 43% expect it to be more or less unchanged, 30% see it decreasing, and only 14% think it will improve. The continuing zero interest rate policy and intensive competition in lending and deposits are squeezing the margins of domestically oriented banks in particular. The robust trend in loans and mortgages is propping up interest operations in terms of volume, but this will probably compensate only partially for the margin pressure. Overall, therefore, the Swiss Banking Outlook points to higher net income with some shifts in its composition. Commission business and services are likely to gain importance, while trading activities will probably deliver additional growth momentum. However, further escalation of geopolitical conflicts, abrupt market corrections or above-average Swiss franc appreciation could force a rethink of these forecasts.