By Mathieu Rosemain
PARIS (Reuters) -Credit Agricole SA, France’s second-largest listed bank, reported higher than expected quarterly earnings on Thursday, boosted by a one-time capital gain and stronger results at its insurance and investment banking units.
Net income over the three months to June advanced 31% from a year earlier to 2.39 billion euros ($2.73 billion), beating the 2.03 billion average of a company-compiled analyst consensus.
The surge was largely due to the deconsolidation of the U.S. division of Amundi, Credit Agricole’s listed asset management arm.
Amundi, Europe’s largest fund manager, agreed last year to exchange its U.S. business for an up to 26% stake in Nasdaq-listed asset manager Victory Capital, resulting in the one-time, non-monetary capital gain of 453 million euros. Second-quarter revenues were up 3.1% to 7 billion euros, broadly in-line with expectations.
Credit Agricole’s insurance division delivered results nearly 13% higher, while its investment banking arm also supported earnings with growth of almost 7%.
However, earnings at the bank’s French retail unit declined, dragged down by a 3.4% drop in net interest income for the period, unlike rivals Societe Generale and BNP Paribas, which both reported higher NII in the country.
NII also fell in Italy, Credit Agricole’s second-biggest market after France, by 4.4%.
The listed entity of Credit Agricole Group, which comprises 39 regional banks, has been embroiled in the wave of Italian banking consolidation in recent months by becoming Banco BPM’s largest shareholder. BPM has been a takeover target for Italy’s UniCredit, which recently dropped its bid.
The French lender recently asked the European Central Bank if it could increase its stake in BPM above a 20% threshold, while ruling out that it would takeover the Italian bank.
“This is an operation to clarify the accounts. Beyond that, BPM remains an important industrial partner for the group,” CEO Olivier Gavalda told reporters.
Credit Agricole achieved its 2025 targets a year head of schedule thanks to record results in 2024, leaving several analysts asking to hear more about the group’s next plan.
The French lender said it would present it’s next medium-term plan on Nov. 18.
($1 = 0.8752 euros)
(Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain)
