The SNB earned 25.2 billion francs (US$31.2 billion) from January through June, it said in a statement on Friday. That brings a year-end payout to the Swiss government back into focus after the first quarter resulted in a small loss.

The central bank’s hoard of assets in foreign currencies — including its large equities portfolio — delivered a profit of 31.7 billion francs. The value of the gold held by the central bank decreased by 6.4 billion francs as bullion prices slumped.

Positions in Swiss francs generated a gain of 0.1 billion francs. Those earnings include negative interest charged on oversized commercial-bank reserves held at the SNB. Sight deposits exceeding a certain threshold are subject to this since the central bank cut its benchmark rate to zero last year.