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The French bank reported solid growth across its investment bank but the rise in revenues was far lower than at Wall Street rivals after a bumper period of dealmaking and soaring markets. Sign up here. The euro zone's biggest lender by assets saw its shares hit hard last week when it struggled to reassure investors that it faces limited exposure to Sudan-related litigation, after a U.S. jury found it helped Sudan's government commit genocide by providing banking services that violated American sanctions. BNP is appealing the U.S. jury's ruling, and gave no update on Tuesday on the case. The bank posted a net profit of 3.04 billion euros ($3.55 billion) for the July-to-September period, below the company-compiled 3.09 billion-euro average of 16 analyst estimates. Revenues climbed 5.3% over the period to 12.6 billion euros, missing the 12.8 billion-euro average estimate. The bank said the cost of integrating AXA's fund arm, which BNP bought this year for 5.1 billion euros, is estimated at 690 million euros. The third quarter is the first in which AXA's impact has been included in BNP's results. Higher regulatory capital requirements are also weighing on returns and delaying the deal's full financial benefits. The amount of cash BNP provisioned to cover bad loans in the third-quarter increased 24% year-on-year to 905 million euros, matching expectations but driven by the "specific credit situation" in its global markets unit. Provisioning in global markets alone shot up to 190 million euros from 11 million euros last year, the bank said. INVESTMENT BANK GROWS Across BNP's investment bank, a business Chief Executive Jean-Laurent Bonnafe has sought to make the engine of the lender's expansion in recent years, revenue rose 4.5% to 4.46 billion euros, while fixed income, currencies and commodities trading was up 3.7%. Both matched forecasts. BNP said its commercial and personal banking division benefited from the higher interest rate environment, with its net interest margin in the eurozone — the difference between what it earns on loans and what it pays on deposits — rising by 4.5%. The bank maintained its 2025 net income target of more than 12.2 billion euros as well as its guidance for a return on tangible equity of 13% by 2028, driven by its expected turnaround in retail banking profitability. ($1 = 0.8575 euros) Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain; Editing by Tommy Reggiori Wilkes Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab Mathieu is part of Reuters' finance team, covering French banks and major M&A stories in the country and in Europe. A graduate of Sciences Po university, Mathieu previously covered the Tech beat at Reuters, following stints at Bloomberg News and French business daily Les Echos.
