The Crédit Agricole banking group recorded a net profit of 2.8 billion euros in the second quarter, i.e. the same as the previous year in the same period, the rise in charges and the cost of risk having largely erased the increase in income, according to a statement released Thursday.
After a slightly worse first quarter than in 2021, the mutual bank recorded net profit for the first half as a whole, down 9.4%, to 4.1 billion euros.
Over the quarter, net banking income, equivalent to turnover for the sector, amounted to 10.12 billion, up 8.8%.
But expenses increased by 6.3% over one year to 5.5 billion euros, and the cost of credit risk, that is to say the sums provisioned to deal with any unpaid bills, by 38, 1% to 615 million euros.
This increase in the cost of risk is explained in particular "
by provisions on healthy outstandings on all business lines to take into account the indirect impacts of the war, the increase in inflation and the anticipated effects on purchasing power , as well as a normalization of the cost of proven risk
”, according to the press release.
Read alsoCredit Agricole wants to boost its retail bank
In other words, after the "
whatever the cost
" of the Covid-19 pandemic, which had resulted in a historically low number of bankruptcies, the first post-crisis effects are beginning to be felt, even if according to Jérôme Grivet, Deputy Managing Director of Casa, who spoke at a press conference, "
there is no significant deterioration in the cost of risk and the quality of our balance sheets
" Casa, which excludes the regional mutuals, sees its profit also stabilized at nearly 2 billion euros in the second quarter, with net banking income up 8.8%, at 6.3 billion euros.
That's better than analysts expected based on consensus compiled by Bloomberg and Factset.
Regarding the war in Ukraine, which had led to a provision of 600 million euros in the first quarter, the group believes that the military situation "
remains highly uncertain
" and does not rule out the "
hypothesis of a lasting conflict, with extremely high risks
.
But “
in the uncertain environment that is looming
”, the group “
is ready to face all the potential turbulence
”, wanted to reassure Jérôme Grivet.
