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Crédit Agricole: 2022 net profit down despite a “historic” fourth quarter

2023-02-09T06:08:32.408Z


The results, better than expected, confirm the good health of French banks. The French banking group Crédit Agricole published Thursday, February 9, a net profit down 10.5% in 2022 to 8.1 billion euros, penalized by the war in Ukraine, but it achieved a “ historic ” fourth quarter, above expectations. For Crédit Agricole SA (Casa), the listed entity of the group which therefore excludes the regional banks, net profit stood at 5.3 billion in 2022, down 7%. However, this i


The French banking group Crédit Agricole published Thursday, February 9, a net profit down 10.5% in 2022 to 8.1 billion euros, penalized by the war in Ukraine, but it achieved a “

historic

” fourth quarter, above expectations.

For Crédit Agricole SA (Casa), the listed entity of the group which therefore excludes the regional banks, net profit stood at 5.3 billion in 2022, down 7%.

However, this is much better than the consensus of analysts who forecast between 4.5 and 4.8 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg and Factset.

Commercial activity was sustained this quarter in all businesses

”, underlined the group in a press release, boasting of a “

record

” fourth quarter for Casa, with nearly 1.6 billion euros in net profit. .

Read alsoFrench banks restrained by tricolor specificities

Underlying net profit (excluding exceptional items) in the fourth quarter of the "

savings management and insurance

" division increased by 15.6% over one year to 705 million euros, and that of the "

large customers

" division

, dedicated to large companies and institutions, by 30.2% to 545 million euros.

For its part, the “

specialized financial services

” activity , which notably includes consumer credit and car leasing, increased in the last quarter by 14.5% to 198 million euros.

Net banking income (NBI), equivalent to turnover for the sector, was 38.2 billion euros over the year for the group, up 3.6% compared to 2021, and 23.8 billion for Casa (+5.5%).

Rate hike

Casa ends the year better than it started since in the first quarter of 2022, its net profit was down 47% year on year.

This decline is explained by the war in Ukraine - invaded by Russia on February 24 - and "

it is much more about provisions than losses

", in other words money set aside as a precaution, underlined the director general. Philippe Brassac, to the press, commenting on the annual results.

The year 2022 was marked by an increase in the cost of risk - i.e. the sums planned to deal with a potential increase in unpaid loans - by around 32% over one year for the group as a whole, to 2.9 Billions of Euro's.

Crédit Agricole SA provides for the payment of a dividend of 1.05 euros per share for the year 2022, like the previous year, which notably included 20 centimes "

in respect of the 2019 dividend

" which could not be paid.

The European Central Bank (ECB) had asked banks to show restraint during the first wave of Covid-19 in Europe.

Read alsoThe rise in ECB rates makes European banks happy

The results of the regional mutuals have however suffered somewhat from the rate hike decided by the ECB to curb inflation and which they have not fully passed on to their customers at this stage.

The net profit of the funds fell by around 17% year on year to almost 2.6 billion euros in 2022 and by around 51% in the fourth quarter compared to the previous year, to 462 million euros.

Three transactions marked the bank's year: the partnership with the car manufacturer Stellantis in long-term leasing, the acquisition of the European securities custody activities of Royal Bank of Canada and the partnership in damage and health insurance with the Italian Banco BPM.

"

All this will obviously produce results over time

," said Mr. Brassac, indicating that the group expected 150 million euros in additional net profit from these three operations by 2026. On the other hand, concerning the interest of Crédit Agricultural for Orange Bank – which the telephone operator wishes to sell – which the press recently echoed, the establishment refused to comment.

Source: lefigaro

All business articles on 2023-02-09

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