Credit Agricole exceeds projections

Despite macroeconomic uncertainty, Credit Agricole said on August 4 that its capital markets and investment banking operations’ second-quarter profit and sales exceeded forecasts. The French bank’s net profit increased from the same period last year’s €1.97bn to €1.98bn in the three months that ended in June.

Revenue increased 8.8% to €6.33 billion as a result of robust activity in the wealth management activities, investment banking, and capital markets, where revenue increased by 29% excluding the impact of foreign exchange. The results exceeded the experts’ consensus estimates of €1.26 billion in net profit and €5.64 billion in revenue.

Credit Agricole reported that between March and June, it lowered its exposure to Russia by almost €400 million, but it did not make any additional provisions beyond the €584 million it set aside in the first quarter to cover the effects of the conflict in Ukraine. However, the cost of risk for the time was €203 million, or around 20% less than for the second quarter of 2021.

The Paris-based corporation also claimed that business in its consumer finance and home lending divisions was booming. According to the statement, the acquisition of Italian bank Creval and asset manager Lyxor, both of which were finalised in 2021, also aided underlying revenue.

Despite what the company described as unfavourable market conditions, net inflows at its asset-management unit reached €1.8 billion. The lender stated that in the past year, it had acquired one million new clients in France, Italy, and Poland.