Credit Agricole’s Q2 results beat estimates on insurance, consumer finance

PARIS, Aug 4 (Reuters) – Credit Agricole SA (CAGR.PA), France’s second-biggest listed bank, posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings on Friday, driven by a strong performance of its insurance and consumer finance divisions.

The listed entity of Credit Agricole Group, controlled by 39 French mutual banks, also announced it had agreed to buy a majority stake in Belgian wealth manager Degroof Petercam for an undisclosed amount in a move that would increase the scope of its Indosuez Wealth Management division by roughly 50%.

Credit Agricole’s second-quarter net income group share jumped by 25% from a year earlier to 2.04 billion euros, well above the 1.39 billion-euro average of analyst estimates compiled by the company.

Quarterly sales rose by 19% to 6.68 billion euros, also beating the consensus of 5.9 billion euros for the three-months period ending in June.

The cost of risk – money set aside for failing loans – more than doubled to 534 million euros, because of “a market significant case” and a higher risk on retail banking and consumer credit.

Both sales and earnings reached record highs in the second quarter, the bank said, driven notably by the insurance business and its so-called special financial services (SFS) unit.

The latter comprises the lender’s consumer finance activities, whose sales were notably boosted by the addition of a joint venture with carmaker Stellantis (STLAM.MI) dedicated to car leasing.

In a call with reporters, Xavier Musca, the head of Credit Agricole’s investment bank, said the lender aimed to own 80% of Degroof Petercam following the acquisition of a number of family-held stakes.

Flemish family Cigrang would retain 20% under the acquisition plan, Musca said, adding that Degroof Petercam had about 35 billion euros under management, and about 30,000 clients.

Separately, Credit Agricole said SAS Rue La Boetie, the investment vehicle of Credit Agricole Group’s 39 mutual banks, planned to further invest 1 billion euros in the listed entity, thus increasing its stake from its current 60.2% stake.

(This story has been corrected to change the impact of Degroof acquisition on Indosuez in paragraph 2)

Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain
Editing by Ingrid Melander, Augustin Turpin

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Mathieu is part of Reuters’ finance team, covering French banks and major M&A stories in the country and in Europe. A graduate of Sciences Po university, Mathieu previously covered the Tech beat at Reuters, following stints at Bloomberg News and French business daily Les Echos.