Credit Agricole's net income more than doubled year-on-year to EUR470m in the first quarter of 2010. Excluding the impact of discontinuing operations in corporate and investment banking and of the loss on disposal of a stake in Intesa Sanpaolo, recurring net income for the quarter amounted to approximately EUR850m.
During the first quarter of 2010, Credit Agricole Group achieved a net banking income of EUR4.82bn, a rise of 18.8% on the first quarter of 2009. On a like-for-like basis, the year-on-year increase was 13.5%.
Net banking income includes a contribution of almost EUR1.3bn from corporate and investment banking (up 10.7%) and EUR1.2bn from asset management, insurance and private banking (up 54.1%).
Net banking income rose by 15.3% year-on-year to EUR983m. LCL and the international retail banking business rose by 3.2% toEUR965m and by 4.8% to EUR722m, respectively.
Credit Agricole’s capital adequacy ratio in first quarter of 2010 was 10%, compared with 9.8% in the fourth quarter of 2009. The Tier 1 solvency ratio increased by 0.1% from its level in the last quarter of 2009: it was 9.6% at March 31, 2010, with no new significant capital transactions during the quarter. The Core Tier 1 ratio remained at 9.2%.
According to Credit Agricole, loan provision charges had a EUR254m impact on its Greece operations in the first quarter of 2010.
Jean-Paul Chifflet, CEO of Credit Agricole, said: “First-quarter results more than doubled compared with the first three months of 2009, as a result of the refocusing strategy initiated 18 months ago. In addition to the strong performances posted by the group’s traditional business lines, corporate and investment banking made a positive contribution of EUR157m to the group’s net income. These results also reflect higher provisions for Greece.”