The retail banking division of French lender BNP Paribas has reported a pre-tax income of EUR1.96bn for the fourth quarter of 2015, a 2.2% increase compared to EUR1.91bn for the same quarter of 2014.
The division’s revenues were EUR7.73bn, an increase of 3.4% from EUR7.48 in the fourth quarter of 2014.
The unit’s operating income decreased 0.05% year-on-year to 1.83bn.
Revenues in the bank’s French Retail Banking unit dropped 2.3% to EUR1.62bn from EUR1.66 in the prior year, while net interest income fell 1.9% to EUR972m from EUR991m a year earlier.
Overall, the banking group’s pre-tax income in the fourth quarter stood at EUR1.47bn, down 27.1% from EUR2.02bn in the prior year quarter. Net income attributable to equity holders fell 51.7% to EUR665m from EUR1.38bn a year ago.
Revenues increased 2.9% to EUR10.45bn from EUR10.15bn in the corresponding quarter of 2014.
BNP Paribas CEO Jean-Laurent Bonnafé said: "The Group had a good operating performance with revenues up in its three operating divisions and a cost of risk that remains at a moderate level.
"The Group’s balance sheet is rock-solid and the significant increase of the fully loaded Basel 3 common equity Tier 1 ratio to 10.9% shows the solid organic capital generation."