BNP Paribas became the latest French bank to report a record first-quarter profit on Friday as higher revenues at its investment banking division drove a surge in earnings that beat forecasts.
BNP Paribas, which is France's biggest bank by market capitalisation, said net profit rose 17 percent from a year ago to 2.01 billion euros ($2.57 billion). Revenues rose 22 percent to 6.82 billion euros, while the gross operating profit increased 20 percent to 2.96 billion euros, beating forecasts.
Twenty analysts polled by Reuters gave an average net profit forecast of 1.57 billion euros.
Leading banks in both the United States and Europe have posted higher first-quarter profits as their investment banking divisions cash in on a recent rise in stock markets and increased corporate finance activity.
However, BNP Paribas's first quarter net profit was the highest among banks in the eurozone, where the French group was alone in breaching the 2 billion euro mark for net profit.
Its result beat the first-quarter net profit of 1.49 billion euros at Spanish lender Santander, which is the eurozone's biggest bank by market capitalisation.
BNP Paribas Chief Executive Baudouin Prot told Reuters that trends for the company's businesses remained positive, despite a recent fall in equity markets amid concerns over rising interest rates.
"BNP Paribas continues to be well placed to take advantage of the market environment. The global environment remains favourable," Prot said.
The bank said it sold more structured equity derivatives to customers in Europe, the United States and Asia.
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