France’s biggest bank says net profit fell 52%February 5, 2016 - 13:54 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - French bank BNP Paribas SA reported sharply lower fourth-quarter net profit on Friday, Feb 5, hit by a hefty write down on its Italian bank, BNL, and said it planned to trim its corporate and investment bank to meet stricter financial regulation in Europe, the Wall Street Journal says. The Paris-based lender, France’s largest listed bank by assets, said net profit fell 52% to €665 million ($745 million) in the three months ended Dec 31, from €1.38 billion a year earlier. Revenue, however, increased 3% to €10.45 billion from €10.15 billion in the same quarter last year. BNP Paribas booked a €917 million write-down in the quarter after European regulators asked it to set aside additional capital for BNL following an intensive review. “BNP Paribas’s results this quarter are reassuring given how challenging the earnings season has been for banks so far,” said Nomura analyst Jon Peace. The bank’s shares were up 4.4% in early trading Friday, according to the Journal. The French bank also said it planned to cut risk-weighted assets at its investment bank by €20 billion by 2019 to wind-down “unproductive” assets and “right-size low return activities.” About half of the capital freed-up will be reinvested in more profitable and less capital intensive businesses, the bank said. The target is to achieve €1 billion in cost savings by 2019 and promote average annual growth of 4% for investment banking revenue between 2015 and 2019. The bank expects to generate €1.6 billion in additional pretax income compared with 2015. Related links: Top stories Yerevan has dismissed Turkey’s demand to shut down the Armenian nuclear power plant as “inappropriate”. Armenia will loan 2.9 billion drams to Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh), according to a draft government decision. The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan has “strongly condemned” Armenia’s decision. Kerobyan has said that for the first time in the history of Armenia, the volume of foreign direct investments amounted to about $1 billion. Partner news | Mirzoyan says meeting with Bayramov was “constructive” At the moment, Ararat Mirzoyan said, there is no basis for additional comments. OSCE vows support for Armenia “in all three directions of security” Achieving stable peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan remains a priority of the OSCE, said Ian Borg. 151 detained as civil disobedience campaigns continue in Yerevan Citizens have been blocking streets in the Armenian capital, demanding Nikol Pashinyan’s resignation. France welcomes Armenia-Azerbaijan meeting in Almaty France has welcomed the new round of negotiations between the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan. |