Investing.com -- BNP Paribas (EPA:BNPP)beat third-quarter profit expectations on Wednesday, as a surge in equities trading drove a 9.5% jump in revenue, though the French bank held back from raising its 2026 targets.
Net profit was €3.46 billion, up 13.5% from a year earlier, versus €3.23 billion in analyst consensus compiled by the bank. Revenue was €13.76 billion versus €13.50 billion expected.
Revenue at the equities and prime services business rose 50% from a year earlier to €1.46 billion on strong client demand across the full range of equity products.
Pre-tax profit was €5.06 billion, up 18.1% from a year earlier, versus €4.75 billion expected.
Cost of risk, the money set aside for loans that may go bad, was €964 million versus €898 million expected, mainly because of higher provisions on healthy loans. That equals 39 basis points of customer loans, in line with the bank's target of below 40 basis points for 2026.
Pre-tax profit at the commercial, personal banking and services division fell 6.5% from a year earlier to €2.04 billion as cost of risk rose to €836 million from €703 million. Revenue at car-leasing units Arval and Leasing Solutions fell 29.1% on pressure on used-car prices.
Insurance pre-tax profit included an €81 million gain from Ageas selling a stake in a partnership.
BNP will launch a €1.3 billion share buyback in November.
Its common equity tier 1 capital ratio was 12.9%, including the impact of the Athlon acquisition. The bank expects it to exceed 13% by the end of 2026, helped by the sale of Moroccan unit BMCI.
BNP confirmed its targets of return on tangible equity of 12% in 2026 and above 13% in 2028, a cost-to-income ratio of about 60% in 2026 and below 56% in 2028, and average annual net profit growth of more than 10% from 2025 to 2028.
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