Switzerland’s central bank announced a first half loss of 95.2 billion Swiss Francs on Friday, the largest six-month loss since the bank was established in 1907.

The Swiss National Bank’s (SNB) results have been impacted by stock market falls, declining bond prices and the currency’s appreciation which seriously dented the value of its foreign currency holdings.

The result was pulled down by Q2, during which the central bank reported a loss of 62.4 billion Francs, Reuters reports, the worst quarterly performance ever recorded.

Over the first half of the year, the Swiss National Bank reported a loss of 97.4 billion from foreign currency positions, yet made a profit of 2.4 billion on gold holdings.

The declining stock markets meant the SNB reported a valuation loss of 44 billion Francs on its equities, whilst rising bond yields led to a loss of 48.7 billion Francs in the value of fixed income investments.

The paper loss was exacerbated by a 10.3 billion shortfall as a result of exchange rates, the Reuters report adds.

The Swiss Franc has increased in value, surpassing parity with the Euro, over the last few weeks, as the central bank scrapped its policy of curbing the currency’s appreciation and hiked its interest rate to combat burgeoning Swiss inflation.

Last year, Swiss National Bank chairman Thomas Jordan said making profits was not the central bank’s aim and wouldn’t impact the monetary policy objective of price stability, holding inflation under 2%.

"The SNB's monetary policy mandate always takes precedence, and there can also be times when fulfilling this mandate means accepting losses," Jordan told the bank's shareholders in April last year.