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SummarySummary Companies Q1 investment bank sales up 20%Trading activity outperforms peersConfirms 2025 targetsPARIS, May 10 (Reuters) - Credit Agricole SA (CAGR.PA), France's second-biggest listed bank, posted better-than-expected earnings on Wednesday, as market volatility boosted trading revenue. This helped drive Credit Agricole's quarterly sales to 6.12 billion euros ($6.74 billion), up 9.6% from a year earlier, while net income more than doubled to about 1.23 billion euros. Both figures beat market expectations of 5.9 billion euros and 816 million euros, respectively, according to an analyst consensus compiled by the company. Deposit levels were stable in the quarter from a year earlier for the group, Credit Agricole said. The cost of risk -- money set aside for failing loans -- fell to 374 million euros, as concerns linked to the war in Ukraine subsided.

Royal Bank of Canada analysts said the results pointed to a strong performance at BNP's trading arm and good cost control. In securities trading, revenue edged down 1.8% but still performed better than some peers including Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE), which saw fixed-income trading decline by 17% in the first quarter. At U.S. bank Goldman Sachs, first-quarter sales from fixed income, currency and commodities (FICC) trading, usually a bright spot, plunged 17% to $3.93 billion, while equity trading revenue sank 7% to $3.02 billion. The first quarter net income, group share amounted to 4.44 billion euros, in line with expectations, and up from 1.84 billion a year earlier. The first tranche of 2.5 billion euros was approved in March, a sign analysts deemed reassuring as it took place shortly after the collapse of Credit Suisse.

The reported group net income for the three months ending in December came at 1.16 billion euros ($1.24 billion), beating the analyst consensus of 834 million euros provided by Visible Alpha. SocGen's quarterly net income was however 35% lower than the same period a year ago, as the bank's hiked provisions for failing loans, which increased by close to fivehold to 413 millions in an uncertain economic environment. Group revenues were up by 4% to 6.89 billion euros in the fourth quarter, also beating the Visible Alpha consensus. Like its bigger French rival BNP Paribas(BNPP.PA), SocGen is enjoying higher revenues from debt and trading in volatile markets. It plans a 440 million-euro share buyback in 2023, on top of a cash dividend of 1.70 euro per share.

Global markets revenue jumped by about 24% in October-December, the euro zone's biggest bank said on Tuesday, fuelled by a 45% leap in revenue from trading in commodity derivatives, rates, foreign exchange and emerging markets. BNP's 45% sales growth in FICC trading (fixed income, commodities, currencies) compared with 25% growth at peers, analysts at Barclays said. Shares in BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA) were up as much as 4% by 1432 GMT on Tuesday, outperforming the euro zone bank index (.SX7E) and valuing the group at more than 78 billion euros ($83 billion). "These are upward revisions that are quite significant and not so frequent," Bonnafe told reporters in a call. BNP Paribas' net income fell by 6.7% to 2.15 billion euros.

RAISED TARGETSBNP's solvency ratio has notably benefited from the $16.3 billion sale of the group's U.S. retail business Bank of the West. The transaction, closed on Feb. 1, will fund the bulk of the share buyback, that will be carried out in two tranches. Recent central bank rate hikes are set to bolster earnings from loans, especially if the spectre of a recession on the continent recedes. "We are setting ambitious financial targets and pursuing our technological advances," Chief Executive Jean-Laurent Bonnafé said. ($1 = 0.9326 euros)Writing by Mathieu Rosemain; Editing by Ingrid Melander, Kirsten DonovanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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