Investing.com -- Credit Agricole SA (EPA:CAGR) (OTC:CRARY) posted a decline in first-quarter profit, as a one-off tax charge offset solid revenue growth, the French bank said on Wednesday.
The lender’s shares fell more than 3% in Paris trading.
Net profit came in at €1.82 billion ($2.08 billion) for the three months to March 31, down 4.2% from a year earlier, mainly due to higher corporate taxes tied to its domestic operations. Analysts had expected €1.87 billion, according to a Visible Alpha survey.
Revenue rose 6.6% to €7.26 billion, slightly ahead of expectations, driven by gains in the lender’s corporate and investment banking arm and its asset-gathering businesses, which include insurance.
Credit Agricole reported costs of €3.99 billion for the quarter, missing the consensus estimates by 4%. “ This leads to a pre provision profit (PPP) that misses consensus by 2%,” Barclays (LON:BARC) analysts said.
“We think [this] will lead to a negative share price reaction today,” they wrote.
Earlier this week, its asset management unit Amundi reported €2.247 trillion in assets under management at quarter-end.
“Credit Agricole S.A. posted record revenues this quarter and high profitability,” said Philippe Brassac, marking his final results as CEO before passing the role to Olivier Gavalda after ten years in charge.
The bank posted a return on tangible equity of 15.9% and reported a Common Equity Tier 1 ratio of 12.1%, above the 11.8% expected by analysts.