Julius Bär Gruppe AG reported first-half IFRS net profitattributable to shareholders of CHF362.0 million, up from reported in the year-agoperiod when it booked a $350 million initial provision for thesettlement with the U.S. Department of Justice regarding its legacy U.S.cross-border business.

EPS for the quarter stood at CHF1.66, comparedto 18 centimes reported a year earlier.

Net commission and fee income fell 7% on ayearly basis to CHF739 million, mainly driven by a decline in brokeragecommissions, reflecting the lower transaction volumes following reduced clientrisk appetite compared to the same period in 2015. Net interest and dividendincome rose 33% to CHF510 million.

For the half, net trading income declined 46%year over year to CHF118 million. Underlying net trading income rose 26% whencompared to the second half of 2015 due to an increase in foreign exchangevolumes throughout the period, particularly in June following the result of theBrexit referendum in the U.K.

The group's AUM stood at CHF311.4 billion atJune-end, compared to CHF299.7 billion at the end of 2015 and CHF284.0 billiona year ago. Julius Bär said the increase was the result of a net positiveacquisition impact of CHF8.6 billion following the first-time consolidation ofKairos Investment ManagementSpA, net new money of CHF5.5 billion and positive market performanceof CHF1.6 billion, partly offset by a negative-currency impact of CHF4.0billion.

Its phase-in BIS common equity Tier 1 capitalratio was 15.9% at June 30, compared to 18.3% at 2015-end and 19.1% a yearearlier.