Credit Agricole joins French rivals with surprise Q2 profit jump

By Julien Ponthus

PARIS (Reuters) – Credit score Agricole joined French rivals BNP Paribas and Societe Generale in saying on Thursday better-than-expected quarterly earnings amid report exercise in its funding banking division.

Internet revenue got here in at 1.98 billion euros ($2 billion), a determine about 800 million euros larger than the common estimate of analysts.

Analysts additionally underestimated revenues, which rose 8.8% to six.33 billions euros, roughly 10% larger than anticipated.

Whereas exercise grew throughout enterprise strains together with retail banking, insurance coverage and wealth administration, the financial institution’s administration stated funding banking shone significantly in the course of the quarter.

Underlying revenues for the Company and Funding Banking (CIB) division jumped 22% to 1.58 billion euros, a efficiency which the financial institution stated mirrored “report business exercise, in a context of excessive volatility and excessive buyer hedging wants”.

Mounted revenue, currencies and commodity (FICC) buying and selling jumped about 37% whereas “buoyant” funding and fairness actions rose 12.8% at the same time as monetary markets skilled one of many worst first-halves in residing reminiscence.

A pointy drop in the price of danger – cash put aside for failing loans – additionally helped raise the group’s earnings after provisions have been taken in the course of the first quarter to compensate for the potential financial fallout of the struggle in Ukraine.

(Reporting by Julien Ponthus; Modifying by Matthieu Protard, Sudip Kar-Gupta and Lincoln Feast)