French bank BNP Paribas has more than doubled its net profit year-on-year in the first quarter to EUR 4.44 billion (CZK 95 billion). It was helped by the sale of its US retail division. At a time when European banking houses are struggling to restore confidence in the banking sector after a series of turbulences, BNP Paribas bolstered its capital and liquidity buffers.
Success on all fronts
The bank has done well in bonds, commodities and currencies. Traditional investment banking and corporate advisory also performed well, as did private banking, which benefited from higher interest rates.
BNP Paribas’ securities trading business was less successful, with revenues down 1.8 per cent. This is the area that CEO Jean-Laurent Bonnafe has declared to be a growth area. Still, BNP Paribas was more successful than some rivals, including Deutsche Bank, whose fixed income trading revenue fell 17 percent.
An increase of five per cent
BNP Paribas’s revenue rose five percent to 12.5 billion euros from January to March. That was higher than the 11.7 billion euros market consensus had indicated.
The sale of Bank of West closed in February. According to BNP Paribas, it generated capital gains of €2.95 billion. The bank had previously said it would use the proceeds from the sale to fund further buybacks of its shares and to finance relatively small but quick acquisitions. It also wants to use them to further develop its presence in Europe.
Source Czech Press Office
