By Inti Landauro and Matthieu Protard
PARIS (Reuters) - French bank Natixis (PA:CNAT) will book 260 million euros (233.78 million pounds) of losses and provisions related to Asian stock derivative operations in the fourth quarter, it said on Tuesday.
The one-off hit will result in a drop in fourth-quarter revenue to 2 billion euros, from 2.25 billion euros in the same period last year, the bank said in a statement without indicating the impact on net profit.
The bank did not disclose details of the derivative operations that caused the losses but said the "model used to manage some specific products traded with clients in Asia led to a hedging strategy that proved deficient under current market conditions".
Most stock markets in Asia performed poorly this year. The main indexes in Shanghai and Seoul are down 22 percent and 16 percent respectively this year. The losses originated mainly in South Korea, a source close to the matter said.
Natixis said the quarterly revenue loss is a one-off event and that the bank will stick to all its financial targets, including a 60 percent dividend payout ratio.
The bank also said it still plans to pay a 1.5 billion euro special dividend from the proceeds of the sale of retail banking-related businesses to its parent bank BPCE.