BNPP, SocGen results beat forecasts

French retail banks BNP Paribas (BNPP) and
Societe Generale (SocGen) kicked off the year with strong profits,
beating analysts’ expectations.

BNPP posted net profits of EUR2.3 billion
($2.9 billion) for the first quarter of 2010, up 46.5 percent from
the year-ago quarter, while net profits at rival SocGen jumped
 to EUR1.06 billion for the first quarter, compared to a loss
of EUR278 million in the comparable period in
2009. 

Baudouin Prot, chief executive of BNPP, said
the results were “remarkable”.

The bank said the positive result was down to
good income growth and the bank’s “new dimension” following its
integration with Fortis in May 2009.

Revenues at BNPP totalled EUR11.5 billion, of
which retail banking accounted for more than half at EUR5.8
billion. 

Prot added that the Fortis takeover firmly
centres on retail banking and boosting cross-sell metrics.

SocGen said there was “significant growth” at
its French retail banking division, with net income rising 24.6
percent to EUR279 million.

But international retail banking income fell
5.8 percent to EUR114 million.

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