PARIS (Reuters) – Credit Agricole SA posted on Wednesday a better-than-expected third-quarter profit, supported by lower pandemic-related provisions for bad loans and higher revenue in retail banking, especially in Italy where the lender acquired local bank Creval earlier this year.
France’s second-biggest listed lender said net income rose 43.5% in the third quarter to 1.40 billion euros ($1.62 billion)and beat a mean forecast for 1.23 billion euros in a poll of analysts compiled by Refinitiv.
Revenue was up 7.4% to 5.53 billion euros, above the 5.46 billion euros forecast by analysts, while its cost of risk – reflecting provisions against bad loans – fell by 56.1%.
Credit Agricole’s chief executive officer Philippe Brassac confirmed the lender was on track to meet its 2022 targets, including a 5 billion euros net profit.
“There is no reason today to change our target,” Brassac told reporters.
($1 = 0.8655 euros)
(Reporting by Matthieu Protard; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
