(Reuters) - BNP Paribas saw revenue rise nearly 16 percent in the second quarter, boosted by brisk share trading, a strong dollar and recently acquired companies.
The improvement helped France’s largest bank post net income of 2.56 billion euros ($2.80 billion) for the second quarter, which also benefited from a 420 million gain from the sale of a 7 percent stake in shopping mall group Klepierre.
The result marked a stark turnaround from the same quarter last year when the bank booked a 4.22 billion euro loss due to a nearly $9 billion fine for breaking U.S. sanctions.
Second-quarter revenue reached 11.08 billion euros, with a strong dollar helping its international financial services and investment banking, while retail banking in its core markets lagged.
Investment and corporate banking revenue rose 15.6 percent, with high volumes in share trading as equity markets hit all-time highs in many countries.
While equity and prime brokerage revenue rose 22 percent, fixed income revenue suffered as the Greece debt situation unsettled debt markets and a major bond sell-off dampened corporate issues.
Consumer finance revenue rose 26.7 percent, boosted by the July 2014 acquisition of its LaSer department store consumer credit business.
Citing a gradual recovery in loan demand, the bank said revenue rose 2.7 percent in its main retail markets of France, Italy, Belgium and Luxembourg as low interest rates remained a drag.
($1 = 0.9153 euros)
