French banking giant Crédit Agricole has reported a net income of €1.66bn ($1.80bn) for the fourth quarter of 2019, an increase of 64.9%, compared to €1.00bn for the same period in 2018.
The bank posted a stated net income of €4.8bn ($5.2bn) for the year 2019, increasing by 4% compared to 2018.
Crédit Agricole had earned a stated revenue of €20.1bn ($21.8bn) for the full year, an increase of 2.1% from €19.7bn ($21.36bn) in 2018.
The bank’s earnings per share was €1.48 ($1.6) for last year, compared to €1.39 ($1.51) in 2018.
Annualised return on tangible equity (ROTE) for the group excluding intangibles, was recorded at 11.9% for last year, decreasing from 12.7% for 2018.
Operating expenses were €12.42bn ($13.47bn) for last year, increasing slightly by 1.1% compared to the prior year from €12.28bn ($13.32bn).
The bank’s contribution to single resolution fund (SRF) had also increased to €340m ($368.68m) in 2019, from €302m ($327.47m) in 2018.
The gross operating income of the bank for last year stood at €7.39bn ($8.01bn), increasing by 3.4% compared to €7.14bn ($7.74bn) for 2018.
The bank’s income before tax for the period was €5.95bn ($6.45bn), registering a decline of 8.4% from €6.49bn ($7.04bn) for the corresponding period in 2018.
The cost of credit risk had increased to €1.25bn ($1.36bn) last year, from €1bn ($1.08bn) in 2018.
Crédit Agricole said customer acquisition in regional banks was very buoyant, with 1,300,000 new individual customers and entrepreneurs being added since the beginning of the year along with a net increase of 264,000 customers of which 185,000 being individual customers.
Crédit Agricole CEO Philippe Brassac said: “Underlying net income of Crédit Agricole S.A. is up +23.5% this quarter, and +4.0% for the year. All business lines contributed to this annual growth, thanks to dynamic commercial activity, which resulted in a net gain of 370,000 individual customers and entrepreneurs in France and Italy this year; revenue synergies reached €9 billion within the Group, demonstrating our organic growth potential.”
Brassac noted that the business lines of Credit Agricole, in particular asset management, asset servicing and consumer finance, have been actively participating in European consolidation by signing or strengthening partnerships in France, Italy and Spain.
