Paris (AFP)
BNP Paribas posted a net profit of 7.07 billion euros in 2020 despite the crisis, down 13.5% compared to the previous year.
This result is a little better than the forecasts of the bank, which anticipated a drop in its profit of 15 to 20%.
The first large French bank to publish its results for last year, it reported net banking income (NBI), equivalent to turnover for the sector, stabilized at 44.28 billion euros (-0.7% ).
In addition to the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus, BNP Paribas suffered from the appreciation of the euro against other major currencies.
But "BNP Paribas has shown great resilience thanks to its diversified and integrated model, its financial solidity, its digital and industrial transformation, the execution power of its platforms", declared Jean-Laurent Bonnafé, Managing Director, cited in the earnings release.
The 3.6% drop in operating costs thus made it possible to limit the erosion of earnings.
For 2021, the banking group expects a "moderate increase" in income, driven by "the gradual normalization of activity".
In detail, the group saw its revenues above all erode in the "International financial services" division - which includes consumer credit, insurance, private management and retail banking activities outside the euro zone - with a drop in NBI of 7.2%, to 15.94 billion.
On the other hand, the group saw its revenues drawn by its corporate and investment banking activity (BFI or CIB in English), which grew by 13.9% to 13.76 billion euros.
The group plans to pay a dividend of 1.11 euros (21% of the result), the maximum authorized by the European Central Bank.
© 2021 AFP