Highest profit since central bank set up in 1907
Big gains for stocks and gold boost result
First shareholder, government payouts since 2022

ZURICH, Jan 9 Reuters The Swiss National Bank will likely report a record fullyear profit of around 80 billion Swiss francs 87.79 billion for 2024, it said on Thursday, after benefiting from booming equity markets, rising gold prices and a stronger U.S. dollar.

The expected profit, according to provisional data, is the highest since the central bank was set up in 1907, comfortably exceeding the previous record of 54 billion francs in 2017.

The SNB, which will publish its earnings on March 3, logged an annual loss of 3.2 billion francs in 2023 and a record loss of 132 billion francs in 2022.

The 2024 figure is in line with a forecast by UBS economists, and will allow a payout to SNB shareholders as well as the country39;s central and regional governments for the first time in three years.

The SNB made a profit of 67 billion francs from its foreign currency holdings last year, boosted by strong equity markets the MSCI World Index gained 17 in 2024.

The central bank has investments in tech majors such as Apple, Microsoft and ecommerce giant Amazon, among others.

The stronger U.S. dollar in which the SNB holds 39 of its 744 billion francs worth of foreign currency assets also helped boost share valuations and dividends when converted into francs.

The SNB made a valuation gain of 21.2 billion francs on the 1.04 million metric…