Credit Agricole: net income flies – Le Figaro

Crédit Agricole SA generated second-quarter net profit rose sharply and exceeded expectations at 920 million euros, against 17 million a year earlier when the group had been weighed down by its stake in the Portuguese bank BES. Analysts on average expected a quarterly profit of 859 million euros, according to a consensus broadcast by FactSet.

The Crédit Agricole Group has passed, moreover, a new provision for litigation as part of an investigation in the United STATES on possible violations of the law on payments in dollars to countries subject to embargo, which the bank expects record resolution for 2015. Following discussions “very advanced” with the US authorities, “we considered we must increase our litigation provision of 350 million euros “, said Tuesday the CEO of Crédit Agricole SA, Philippe Brassac, during the presentation of the quarterly results. The bank declined to detail the amount devoted to the American record, but the total amount of the provision for litigation of the group now reaches 1.6 billion euros.

Excluding exceptional items, net income CASA grew by 6.2% year on year, and the Crédit Agricole Group, which incorporates all the results of regional banks, was stable at 1.5 billion euros. These are the poles savings and insurance (asset management, private banking and insurance) and specialized financial services (consumer credit, leasing …) that are driving growth, with profits up 16.7%, respectively ( 457 million euros) and 45.2% (to € 125 million).

Credit Agricole SA also unveiled a reorganization around seven major poles, a “shock simplification” wanted to adapt to the changes planned in the banking sector. But the reorganization project “ROC” as reorganization of the central body, which provided in particular to change the group’s power balances to a head structure controlled by the regional mutuals of Crédit Agricole, wait, if it must see day. “Projects have been studied. However, Crédit Agricole Group announces that projects on a governance change have not been validated by the ECB because of regulatory constraints that can not be lifted,” said his side Oddo Securities in a note.