Some history
Its current CEO Marc Bürki and Michael Ploog founded Swissquote in 1999. It was then listed on the SIX Exchange in 2000. As we mentioned in other sections (mainly Business & Trends and Money Making), it has grown and diversified by both business and geographically.
As evidenced by the level of D&A and recent acquisitions, the company is committed to remaining a fintech with services of high quality (diversification of assets traded for clients – on a highly ergonomic platform – via new partnerships or acquisitions).
About Swissquote’s financial reports
Swissquote is officially a bank but as we explained in the Business and Trends and Money Making sections, it resembles more a tech-company (a fintech). For the traditional banks we cover at AlphaValue, we use a specific model which we believe is more adapted to these banks. These banks make indeed most of their revenues via the issuance of loans (for corporates and households) as well as trading income with the issuance of derivatives. In both cases, traditional banks make intensive use of their balance sheet, which justifies the use of a specific model for financial reporting and valuation.
Swissquote’s business, while innovative, remains simple and the main items on its balance sheet are (roughly) deposits and equities as liabilities and risk-free investments on the asset side. This is the reason why we are more comfortable with using the model that we use for “industrial companies”. Our reporting is therefore different from that of the company’s financial reports. We have indeed simplified the P&L and the balance sheet (even if all fundamental data are available to the readers). We also show a comprehensive cash flow statement as we do not find it relevant to report Swissquote’s cash flow statement from its annual reports. Indeed, a bank’s cash flow statement mixes the economic facets of the company (real cash flow generation) as well as the net change in its operating assets and liabilities (liquidity management as a whole). We find it therefore more relevant to reveal only real cash flow generation.
