Corporate Banking Boosts BNP Paribas’ Q2 Performance

Top French bank BNP Paribas didn’t lose as much money as analysts predicted.

Reports Friday (July 28) said the bank posted a smaller drop in Q2 net income than was initially expected, with cut costs and boosted revenue helping quarterly earnings when BNP Paribas released its quarterly earnings report.

Its corporate banking unit was particularly strong, with its corporate and institutional bank having a “very good quarter,” the bank said in a statement.

Earlier estimates had predicted BNP Paribas’ net income would drop to $2.24 billion, but it dropped 6.4 percent to $2.82 billion, according to reports. Revenue for its corporate and institutional banking unit (CIB) increased by 4.6 percent, with a 25.8 percent increase in equity trading and prime dealing. Meanwhile, the top five U.S. banks posted a 1 percent rise for equities trading, reports noted.

Cash management and trade finance operations boosted its corporate banking revenue by 13.5 percent.

Meanwhile, the bank cut CIB expenses by 6 percent, a result of a measure implemented in 2016 that focused on improving pre-tax return on equity. According to reports, while retail banking across Europe has seen a decline in revenue, BNP Paribas surpassed revenue expectations largely because of corporate and institutional banking and global financial services.

BNP Paribas has taken steps to enhance its corporate banking services recently. Last year the bank said it completed its first B2B transaction using blockchain, moving funds between Germany, the Netherlands and the U.K. across different BNP Paribas accounts.

In 2015 BNP Paribas announced renewed corporate banking strategies, with CFO Lars Machenil planning to boost market share and expand cross-border corporate payment capabilities.