Swissquote cuts full-year guidance as 1H crypto income plunges, shares slide

Swiss banking firm Swissquote Group (SQN) cut full-year revenue and profit forecasts after first-half net crypto income fell 66.2% to 14.6 million Swiss francs ($18 million).

Crypto trading volume at the Gland, Switzerland-based fintech dropped 63.5% to 2.58 billion Swiss francs, according to its results presentation. The company cut its net revenue outlook for the year by around 30 million francs to 730 million francs.

Swissquote said price declines across most cryptocurrencies caused the business to miss its initial assumptions. Bitcoin BTC$63,776.61, the largest cryptocurrency, fell 33% in the six months ended June 30. Ether ETH$1,890.08, the second-largest, dropped 47% and the CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20) lost 40%.

“The revised guidance now reflects a weaker-than-expected crypto environment,” Swissquote wrote.

Swissquote also booked a 5.3 million-franc loss on the crypto inventory it holds to support trading on its SQX exchange.

Growth in areas such as non-crypto trading and interest income helped keep revenue broadly level and limited the decline in profit. Client assets rose nearly 20% to 96.3 billion francs.

The company’s shares plunged 14% after the announcement.

UPDATE (Aug. 13, 14:05 UTC): Adds areas of growth in penultimate paragraph.