SNB books CHF 1.2bn gold gain after a CHF 6.4bn loss in H1
The Swiss National Bank's nine-month profit was CHF 44.2bn, with CHF 43.3bn on foreign currency positions. Gold traded at CHF 112,118 a kilogram at end-September, against CHF 104,812 at end-June.
By Carat Capital
What changed
Gold loss reversed. The SNB recorded a CHF 1.2bn valuation gain on gold for the first nine months. In H1 the same line was a CHF 6.4bn loss.
What it means
- If you hold gold stock: The gain is price alone; volume was unchanged. Gold in francs rose 7.0% in Q3.
- If you price in dollars: Dollar gold on the tape fell 7.6% from its 30 September mark to $3,874.40 at Friday's close.
- What this is not: A purchase or a sale. No metal moved.
Key figures
| Gold valuation gainnine months to 30 Sep | CHF 1.2bn |
|---|---|
| Implied Q3 gold swingCC arithmetic, 1.2 + 6.4 | CHF 7.6bn |
| Gold, per kilogramend-Sep, from 104,812 end-June | CHF 112,118 |
| Nine-month profitbefore currency provisions | CHF 44.2bn |
Source: SNB interim results as at 30 September 2026 (released 30 October 2026) and as at 30 June 2026 (released 31 July 2026). Dollar gold: Carat Capital tape, Kitco bid.
Price did the work.
Volume unchanged. The SNB says its gold holdings remained unchanged in volume terms. Gold traded at CHF 110,919 a kilogram at end-2025.
A third-quarter swing. From a loss at end-June to a gain at end-September, the gold line moved CHF 7.6bn. The subtraction is ours, not the bank's.
| Line | H1 2026 | Nine months | Implied Q3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | 25.2 | 44.2 | 19.0 |
| Foreign currency positions | 31.7 | 43.3 | 11.6 |
| Gold holdings | −6.4 | 1.2 | 7.6 |
| Swiss franc positions | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| Gold, CHF per kg, period end | 104,812 | 112,118 | +7.0% |
The Q3 column is Carat Capital's subtraction; the gold price change is its division. The SNB's line items do not sum to its total profit in either release.
Currency positions carried the profit.
Exchange rates helped. Exchange-rate gains on foreign currency positions were CHF 29.8bn. Equity price gains were CHF 23.7bn, against CHF 22.6bn of price losses on interest-bearing paper.
What the release leaves out.
No tonnage given. The release gives no tonnage. Dividing the CHF 7.6bn swing by the CHF 7,306 rise per kilogram gives about 1,040 tonnes, on our arithmetic.
Provisional until December. The SNB says only provisional conclusions are possible on the annual result. Its allocation to currency reserve provisions is set at the end of the year.
What to watch
- 31 December 2026Gold in francs against CHF 110,919, the end-2025 price. The test: below it, the year's gold line turns to a loss.
- After 31 December 2026The SNB's full-year gold valuation line, set at the end of the year. The test: whether it stays above zero after October's fall in dollar gold.
The story so far
Go deeper
What would change this call
A year-end franc gold price below CHF 110,919 a kilogram would turn the nine-month gain into a loss for the year, with volume unchanged.
How the gold line moves
The SNB reports a valuation gain or loss on gold holdings that were unchanged in volume. The line therefore moves with the franc gold price between reporting dates.
Method
Swiss National Bank, 'Interim results of the Swiss National Bank as at 30 September 2026', ad hoc announcement dated '30 October 2026' in the body; fetched by the Editor on 31 October 2026, door.py 200, 72,832 bytes (newsroom/sources/2026-10-31/desk/pre_20261030.html, the Bureau's count was the same). Tag-stripped text: 'profit of CHF 44.2 billion', 'CHF 43.3 billion', 'valuation gain of CHF 1.2 billion', 'unchanged in volume terms', 'CHF 112,118 per kilogram', 'end-2025: CHF 110,919', 'CHF 29.8 billion', 'CHF 23.7 billion', 'CHF 22.6 billion', 'only provisional conclusions are possible' each read in its sentence. Half-year release 'as at 30 June 2026', dated '31 July 2026' (the Bureau's capture, 72,781 bytes, newsroom/bureau/raw/2026-10-31/snb-h1.html): 'profit of CHF 25.2 billion', 'CHF 31.7 billion', 'valuation loss of CHF 6.4 billion', 'CHF 104,812 per kilogram at the end of June 2026'. Arithmetic, ours: 1.2 − (−6.4) = 7.6; 44.2 − 25.2 = 19.0; 43.3 − 31.7 = 11.6; 112,118 / 104,812 = 1.0697 -> +7.0%; 112,118 − 104,812 = 7,306; 7.6bn / 7,306 = 1.04m kg; on the SNB's one-decimal rounding (7.55 to 7.65) the range is about 1,033 to 1,047 tonnes; the nine-month check, 1.2bn / (112,118 − 110,919 = 1,199) = 1.0m kg, agrees within its wider rounding. Components do not sum: 43.3 + 1.2 + 0.1 = 44.6 against 44.2; 31.7 − 6.4 + 0.1 = 25.4 against 25.2; no share of profit is printed. Dollar gold: tape 30 September 2026 gold_spot 4,191.6 (Kitco); tape 31 October 2026 gold_spot 3,874.4, Kitco bid, originalTime 2026-10-30T17:00:00Z, Friday's New York close; 3,874.4 / 4,191.6 = 0.9243 -> 7.6% lower. No franc rate was read, so no franc price for October is given. English wires carried the results on 30 October; a CNBC headline figure of $23 billion is not in the release and is not used. Source verbs: the SNB says 'reports', 'recorded', 'remained unchanged'; this page says recorded, books, reports. ARCHIVE, by entity: 'Swiss National Bank' 0 rows and 'SNB' 0 hits in website/content/articles.json (archive-hits.py and a substring search, the Bureau, 31 Oct). Ours: nothing on the SNB | new: nine months to 30 September 2026: NEW.
Sources
- Swiss National Bank, Interim results as at 30 September 2026 30 October 2026
- Swiss National Bank, Interim results as at 30 June 2026 31 July 2026