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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.

[1/5] People attend the traditional May Day labour march, a day of mobilisation against the French pension reform law and for social justice, in Nantes, France May 1, 2023. "It will serve to say that we will not move on until this (pension) reform is withdrawn." Macron says the reform is needed to keep one of the industrialised world's most generous pension systems in the black. French pension payments as a share of pre-retirement earnings are comfortably higher than elsewhere and a French man typically spends longer in retirement than those in other OECD nations. But the trade unions say the money can be found elsewhere.

[1/9] A demonstrator throws a tear gas during the traditional May Day labour march, a day of mobilisation against the French pension reform law and for social justice, in Nantes, France May 1, 2023. Sophie Binet, leader of the hardleft CGT union, said the pension reform had left Macron isolated. Macron says the French reform is needed to keep one of the industrialised world's most generous pension systems in the black. French pension payments as a share of pre-retirement earnings are comfortably higher than elsewhere and a French man typically spends longer in retirement than those in other OECD nations. Trade unions say the money can be found elsewhere.

Cars were torched in Paris and other French cities in the evening during otherwise peaceful demonstrations involving several thousand people. "Something fundamental happened, and that is that, immediately, spontaneous mobilisations took place throughout the country," hard-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon said. Protests took place in cities including Toulon on Friday, and more were planned for the weekend. Macron will want to turn the page quickly, with government officials already preparing more socially minded reforms. Amid the unrest on Thursday evening, someone had tagged on a shop front: "Let's destroy what destroys us."

[1/11] Protesters take part in a demonstration against the French government's pension reform plan, as part of the eighth day of national strike and protests, in Ancenis-Saint-Gereon, France, March 15, 2023. The pension bill passed to a joint parliamentary committee on Wednesday where lawmakers from the lower and upper chambers are seeking a compromise text. If a deal is reached, a final vote in both the Senate and National Assembly will be held on Thursday. This new day of protests "is meant to tell lawmakers: don't vote this reform," he said. "In the National Assembly, there will not be an easy vote, nor will there be panic," government spokesman Olivier Veran told Europe 1 radio station.

On Tuesday, a nationwide day of industrial action brought record numbers of people onto the streets against the policy change. But Olivier Gantois, the head of the French Association of Petroleum Industry (UFIP), said there was little impact on consumers for now. The logo of French oil and gas company TotalEnergies is seen at TotalEnergies fuel depot in Mardyck, near Dunkerque, as France faces the sixth nationwide day of strike and protests against French government's pension reform plan, France, March 7, 2023. REUTERS/Pascal RossignolThe four French LNG terminals and all of the gas storage facilities also remained blocked, FNME-CGT representative Fabrice Coudour said. The next nationwide day of strikes and protests is set for Saturday.

☆ AXA lifts 2023 targets as full-year earnings miss expectations
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SummarySummary Companies Blames fall in valuation of bond assetsRaises 2023 earnings growth guidanceAnnounces 1.1 billion-euro share bay-back programPARIS, Feb 23 (Reuters) - French insurer AXA (AXAF.PA) posted lower-than-expected full-year earnings on Thursday as the rise in interest rates weighed on the valuation of its bond assets but raised its 2023 targets. Europe's second-biggest insurer after Germany's Allianz (ALVG.DE) said net income fell by 8% year-on-year to 6.7 billion euros ($7.12 billion) in 2022. Gross revenues over the year were up 2% to 102.3 billion euros, in line with the Refinitiv analyst consensus estimate. AXA yet raised its 2023 guidance, saying it now targeted an underlying earnings per share growth above 7%, up from a previous target of a growth in the high end of its 3% to 7% range by 2023. It also announced a share buy-back programme of up to 1.1 billion euros this year and a dividend of 1.70 per share, up 10% from 2021.

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.

☆ Credit Agricole Q3 profit beats forecast despite asset outflows
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Amundi, which is majority owned by the bank, last month posted net outflows of 12.9 billion euros in the third quarter, hurt by weak markets and concern about the economic outlook following the war in Ukraine. But Credit Agricole, like most European banks, managed to take advantage of rising interest rates to post a strong increase in corporate loans, up by 15.4%, and consumer finance, which rose 12.6% in the quarter. Capital markets and investment banking revenues, which have boosted rivals as they benefited from market volatility, fell by 5.7% in the quarter however. "Globally we have a lower risk profile than rivals, which means we may profit less from volatility," said Credit Agricole deputy CEO Xavier Musca. The bank said that would not increase the holding company's stake in Credit Agricole above 65%.

☆ SocGen net income tops forecasts in third quarter
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

PARIS, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Societe Generale (SOGN.PA), France's third-biggest listed bank, joined European rivals in posting a higher than expected net income in the third quarter as market volatility boosted trading revenues. SocGen, which has appointed the head of its investment banking division as its next CEO from May 2023, said net income had come in at 1.5 billion euros ($1.47 billion) - well above a Refinitiv consensus forecast of 1 billion euros. ($1 = 1.0221 euros)Reporting by Silvia Aloisi and Matthieu Protard; Editing by Sudip Kar-GuptaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ BNP Paribas profit tops forecast despite higher costs, debt markdown
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

PARIS, Nov 3 (Reuters) - BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA), the euro zone's biggest lender, posted a higher than expected net profit in the third quarter, with trading revenues helping offset rising costs and markdowns on some leverage financing deals. Net income in the three months to end September rose by 10.3% from a year earlier to 2.76 billion euros ($2.73 billion), compared with an average of 2.36 billion euros expected in a Refinitiv poll of analysts. Revenues were up 8% at 12.3 billion euros. Rising interest rates and market turbulence have forced big lenders to hold debt on their books for longer than they would have liked, and incur losses on some financing packages. However French lenders traditionally take longer than their continental peers to reap the benefits of rising interest rates.

☆ Axa 9-month revenue up 2%, faces 400 mln euro hit from Hurricane Ian
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The French insurer - Europe's second-biggest after Germany's Allianz - said its nine-month revenue rose 2% on a comparable basis to 78.4 billion euros from 76 billion in the year-earlier period. Property and casualty revenue was up 3% to 40.7 billion euros, while health revenue was up 14% to 13.1 billion. Axa said that Hurricane Ian, which devastated the coastlines of Florida in September, was expected to be one of the costliest hurricanes to hit the United States in recent years. More than 80 people died in Hurricane Ian, which is likely to be among the worst in U.S. history, President Joe Biden has said. Axa also confirmed it was taking part in a capital increase of Italian bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) (BMPS.MI) for an amount that could reach 200 million euros.

☆ French government: on right track over further easing petrol supply problems
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, Oct 23 (Reuters) - The French government said on Sunday that France was on the right track over further easing the problem of petrol service stations not having enough petrol due to strikes at oil refineries, which had hit motorists around the country. Data on Friday showed that about 13 percent of petrol service stations still had supply problems, down from over 30 percent last week-end. "We are on the right track," government spokesman Olivier Veran told Europe 1 radio. "The crisis at the service stations will be finished when we no longer have any French person who is forced to queue up at a petrol station to fill up," he added. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Matthieu Protard; Editing by Sudip Kar-GuptaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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