Swiss National Bank makes $30.1 billion first-quarter profit

ZURICH (Reuters) - The Swiss National Bank reported a first-quarter profit of 30.7 billion Swiss francs (£23.3 billion) on Thursday, highlighting the volatility its massive balance sheet creates for the central bank's earnings.

Its made a profit on foreign currency positions of 29.3 billion, recorded a valuation gain of 0.9 billion on gold holdings and generated profit on Swiss franc positions of 0.6 billion, it said in a statement.

The result contrasted with a 6.8 billion franc loss in the first quarter of last year.

(Reporting by Michael Shields; Editing by Oliver Hirt)