Julius BärGruppe AG has thecapacity to buy a bank with AUM of up to CHF15 billion without having toapproach the markets for funding, CEO Boris Collardi told Reuters.

Collardi said that a potential deal would be price sensitiveand anything that is priced above 1% of AUM is "too expensive,"Reuters noted in its July 25 report.

The CEO also said that there is a possibility for the bankto adopt further cost-cutting measures in the second half. Julius Bär earlierthe same day reported first-half IFRS net profit attributable to shareholders of CHF362.0 million,up from CHF39.0 million reported in the year-ago period.

At the earnings conference, Collardi said he was confidentthat there would be M&A opportunities in the future. He also expects JuliusBär to be among the top two private banks in Monaco within two years. "Byour conservative estimate, we should, within the next two years, be either No.1 or No. 2 in Monaco," Collardi said.

CFO Dieter Enkelmann said at the conference that the netnumber of bankers joining the company would be about 120 in 2016, compared toapproximately 40 in 2015.