French lender Credit Agricole reported a net income €291m for the fourth quarter of 2016, a 67% slump compared to €882m in the same period of 2015.
The group’s pre-tax income for the quarter ended 31 December 2016 dropped 1% year-on-year to €832m. Gross operating income increased 15.5% to €1.59bn from €1.38bn the year ago.
Revenues were €4.58bn, an increase of 6.7% from €4.28bn in the prior year.
The bank’s French Retail Banking (LCL) arm posted net income of €136m for the fourth quarter of 2016, up 15.2% from €118m in the corresponding quarter of 2015. Revenues at the unit dipped 1.2% year-on-year to €863m.
The bank’s international retail banking unit reported a net income of €24m for the fourth quarter of 2016, a 38.4% decline from €39m in the prior corresponding period.
Revenues at the division dropped 5.7% to €612m from €649m the year ago.
Credit Agricole CEO Philippe Brassac said: “Credit Agricole S.A. performed well in 2016 as a result of further strong top-line momentum across all its business lines, plus a tight grip on its costs and its risk.
“These encouraging results have laid the groundwork for the introduction of a normalised dividend policy and reinforced our confidence in our ability to achieve the targets of the Strategic Ambition 2020 plan for the benefit of our customers.”
