Credit Agricole profit plummets by two thirds
(15 February 2017 – France) Credit Agricole has reported a 67 percent drop in fourth-quarter profit. The bank has cited a large increase in mortgage refinancing as customers seek out lower interest rates.
France’s second-largest bank by assets said net income during the three months to 31 December fell to €291 million (A$403 million) from €882 million year-on-year.
Fourth-quarter revenue rose seven percent to €4.6 billion, spurred by good results in the bank’s asset management and investment banking units.
The bank said “only retail banking . . . did not contribute to revenue growth.”
Last year, the bank’s chief executive Philippe Brassac announced plans to cut €900 million in costs by 2019 and invest €7.7 billion in digital, but Crédit Agricole is also expanding in asset management as a way to diversify.
Crédit Agricole was hit hard by the fallout from a number of poorly timed acquisitions in Portugal, Spain and Greece just before the European sovereign debt crisis. It has since retreated to focus on its core markets of France and Italy.
Brassac said Crédit Agricole’s “encouraging results have laid the groundwork for the introduction of a normalised dividend policy.”
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