Crédit Agricole SA reported mixed quarterly results on Thursday, marked in particular by a sharp drop in revenues from its insurance business.

Fourth-quarter net income, group share, fell by 25.2% year-on-year to 1.33 billion euros, while analysts were expecting an average of 1.28 billion euros, according to a consensus provided by Crédit Agricole.

The Group's net banking income for the period came to 6.04 billion euros, up 1.2% but below analysts' expectations, who were expecting an average of 6.16 billion euros.

France's second-largest listed bank reported a 47% year-on-year fall in insurance sales, due to "high weather-related claims in the quarter".

On the Paris Bourse, Crédit Agricole's share price fell by

5,89

% à

12,252

euros to

10

h

08

the red lantern of the CAC 40, which gained

0,19

% at the same time. This was its biggest single-day decline since May 2023.

Crédit Agricole said that revenues from its corporate banking division rose by 8.5% in the fourth quarter, notably with the integration of the European activities of RBC Investor Services.

Net income from retail banking in France rose by 4.2%, driven by growth in net interest margin.

Crédit Agricole also reported a better-than-expected cost of credit risk in the fourth quarter, at 440 million euros, and announced a 24% increase in its dividend compared with 2022, to 1.05 euros per share.

With annual net income, group share, of 6.35 billion euros, a return on tangible equity (ROTE) of 12.6% and a cost/income ratio of 54.1%, the Group declared that by 2023 it had achieved all the financial targets it had set itself for 2025.

Crédit Agricole did not raise its medium-term targets.

(Mathieu Rosemain reports, written by Augustin Turpin and Blandine Hénault, edited by Kate Entringer)