EFG International reports increase in full year profits (updated)

EFG International AG

18/02/2026 06:48

Corrects paragraph 3 to say comment came from CFO Dimitrios Politis not CEO Giorgio Pradelli

Feb 18 (Reuters) - Swiss bank EFG International EFGN.S on Wednesday reported a slight increase in net profits, which was dampened by a litigation provision related to a Kuwait pension corruption lawsuit.

The Zurich-based private bank reported a 1% increase in full year net profits to 325.2 million Swiss francs  ($421.95 million) but the result was impacted by a litigation provision of 60 million Swiss francs recorded in December 2025.

On a call with reporters, Chief Financial Officer Dimitrios Politis said that the fee resulted from a UK court case in which EFG and other asset managers were accused of laundering bribes to Kuwait's public pension fund PIFSS from 1995 up to 2012.

The trial started in March 2025 and CFO Politis said that the verdict for the case is expected in summer 2026. The loss from the legal provision was partially offset by a previously disclosed one-off gain from an insurance recovery amounting to 45.4 million Swiss francs.

Analysts at Vontobel bank said the fee was unexpected and shares in EFG fell by nine percent after the market opened.

        EFG's net new assets amounted to 11.3 billion francs in 2025, corresponding to a growth rate of 6.8% and reaching their highest level since the global financial crisis.

Assets under mangement reached an all-time high of 185 billion Swiss francs. The increase in assets under management was driven by acquisitions, which added 11.7 billion Swiss francs to EFG's assets under management in 2025.

In February 2025 EFG acquired the Geneva-based private bank Cité Gestion and in June EFG acquired a 75 percent stake in the Australian ISG Group. In January 2026, EFG announced the acquisition of Quilvest Switzerland, another Swiss private bank.

     EFG said that in 2026 it would continue to look for M&A opportunities.

($1 = 0.7707 Swiss francs)

 (Reporting by Simon Ferdinand Eibach in Gdansk, editing by Matt Scuffham)

 ((SimonFerdinand.Eibach@thomsonreuters.com;))