Basel - Sarasin and Cie, a private Swiss bank, said Thursday its adjusted net profits in 2008 were 114.4 million Swiss francs (98.2 million dollars), down from 173.5 million the previous year.

The bank said it had an "impressive" new money inflow of 14.5 billion francs in 2008, a 30 per cent increase over 2007. Just over half of the new money came in during the later part of the year.

At the end of 2008, Sarasin managed client assets totalling 69.7 billion, a drop of 16 per cent compared to the previous year, attributed to overall market conditions.

Looking forward, the bank said it would still expect to expand this year and aimed for a growth rate of 10 per cent.

Sarasin's executive committee said members waived their bonuses for 2008 but the bank warned that further cost cutting actions might be necessitated by the economic situation.

The bank said it would present an option to shareholders to issue them exchange-traded cash or title options instead of the usual dividends.

The bank's stock was up about 4.4 per cent to 23.5 francs after the first hour of trading Thursday morning. The bank's stock has been in decline since last summer when shares were worth 54 francs. (dpa)