NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

1 Accounting Principles

General approach

The annual financial statements of Bellevue Group AG were prepared in accordance with the guidelines of the Swiss Code of Obligations. Balance sheet items are valued at historical costs.

Cash and cash equivalents, receivables and liabilities

Assets are recognised at acquisition costs and liabilities are recognised at their nominal value. Specific valuation adjustments are made for identifiable risks of loan losses.

Property, plant and equipment

Property, plant and equipment are valued at acquisition or production cost less accumulated depreciation and less value adjustments. Property, plant and equipment are depreciated on a straight-line basis over their estimated useful lives. If there are indications of overvaluation, the book values are reviewed and adjusted if necessary.

Participations

Participations are recognised at acquisition costs less adjustments necessary for commercial reasons.

Accruals and deferrals

Accruals and deferrals are expenditures of the current financial year, which are recognized as expenses in the subsequent financial year as well as revenues of the current financial year, which are recognised as income in the subsequent financial year.

Treasury shares

Treasury shares are recognised at acquisition cost and deducted from shareholders’ equity at the time of acquisition. In case of a resale, the gain or loss is recognised through the income statement as profit or loss. For treasury shares held by subsidiaries, a reserve for treasury shares is booked to the value of the acquisition price.

Waiver of cash flow statement, management report and additional disclosures in the notes

As Bellevue Group AG has prepared its consolidated financial statements in accordance with a recognised accounting standard (IFRS), it has decided to waive the disclosure of additional information on interest-bearing liabilities and audit fees in the notes, the management report as well as a the cash flow statement in accordance with the law.

2 Notes to the financial statements

Treasury Shares (inventory and movement)

Treasury shares are held partly directly by the Company and partly indirectly via the wholly owned subsidiaries Bank am Bellevue AG (until April 30, 2020) and Bellevue Asset Management AG. All transactions are carried out at market prices.

Impairments on participations

Lower business volumes and an overall reduction in profitability at StarCapital AG had led to the need to adjust the carrying amount of the investment in StarCapital AG by CHF 10.9 million in the 2020 reporting year (2019: CHF 10.9 million).

In the financial year 2020, the subsidiary Bank am Bellevue AG distributed a dividend of CHF 49.1 million in connection with the sale of the SIX participation, which was recognized in the position «Dividend income from participations». At the same time, this led to an impairment of CHF 49.1 million on the investment Bank am Bellevue AG. In connection with the completion of the sale of Bank am Bellevue AG in the first half of 2020 and the determination of the final sales price, the investment had to be additionally impaired by CHF 0.6 million.

Reversal of impairment on participations

The investment in Bank am Bellevue AG was revalued by CHF 30.8 million as of December 31, 2019.

On August 20, 2019, Bellevue Group AG and KBL European Private Bankers (new: Quintet Private Bank) signed an agreement on the sale of Bank am Bellevue. Quintet Private Bank has acquired 100% of the shares of Bank am Bellevue. The closing of the transaction has taken place as of April 30, 2020.

As of December 31, 2019, the selling price and the Bank's expected profit and capital distribution in 2020 were used as the basis for the valuation of the investment in Bank am Bellevue AG.

Extraordinary, non-recurring or prior period income

Due to the final tax assessments for the years 2015 to 2018, an out-of-period income of CHF 0.2 million arose in the 2020 financial year.

3 Additional Information

Company name, legal form and domicile

The Bellevue Group AG is a joint stock company under the Swiss Code of Obligations and is domiciled in Küsnacht at Seestrasse 16.

Declaration on FTEs

The annual average of full-time employees has not exceeded 50 in the current financial year (previous year: not exceeded 50).

Information on shareholdings of members of the Board of Directors and the Group Executive Board 

Events after the balance sheet date

No events have occurred since the balance sheet date that would have a material impact on the information provided in the year 2020 financial statements and would therefore need to be disclosed.

The COVID-19 pandemic is having an impact on the global economy and, accordingly, the economic environment for certain industries has deteriorated significantly in fiscal 2020. The Group Executive Board has taken various precautionary measures to ensure the smooth and trouble-free maintenance of business operations. Together with the Board of Directors, the Group Executive Board continuously assesses the challenges and opportunities resulting from this crisis. At the time of preparing the annual financial statements, however, there are no direct consequences arising from the crisis that have an impact on Bellevue Group AG’s business policy.

Information on major shareholders

Based on the notifications received and published by Bellevue Group AG, each of the following parties owns a significant voting rights:

The shareholders Martin Bisang (Küsnacht), as well as Manuela and Jürg Schäppi (Jona) signed a shareholder agreement on October 25, 2018. Martin Bisang will represent the Group and controls 29.48% of the voting rights by December 31, 2020 (December 31, 2019: 29.48%).

4 Proposal to the Annual General Meeting

Upon approval of this proposal, the dividend of CHF 4.00 per registered share of CHF 0.10 will be paid less the federal withholding tax of 35%.