Sal Oppenheim said it recorded a pre-tax profit of €139.9 million ($175.2 million) in the first six months of 2006, a 47 per cent year-on-ye...

Sal Oppenheim said it recorded a pre-tax profit of €139.9 million ($175.2 million) in the first six months of 2006, a 47 per cent year-on-year rise. The announcement of these results is an unusual step by the German private bank as it is a partnership-owned bank and has no obligation to release results, particularly half year numbers. Analysts say the release was timed to underline the current strength of the bank’s businesses. “The extraordinarily positive start recorded in the first half means that we have exceeded our own forecasts and provides us with an affirmation of our positioning and strategy,” said Matthias Graf von Krockow, a spokesman for the Cologne-based private bank, in a statement. The bank said assets under management rose to €136 billion at the end of the first half of the year, compared with €123 billion at the end of 2005.