PARIS: French banking group BNP Paribas said today it is aiming to earn a record profit in 2025, thanks in large part to strong performance by its retail operations and the purchase of asset manager AXA IM.
The “outlook for the second half of the year is very encouraging,” said chief executive Jean-Laurent Bonnafe, announcing that net profit “is expected to exceed €12.2 billion” (US$14.3 billion).
The bank is well on its way to attaining that target, having earned €6.2 billion, even if that was below the performance turned in last year.
BNP Paribas is counting on better profitability from its loan portfolio, better performance by its auto leasing unit Arval and operational efficiencies to arrive at a record annual profit.
The bank’s shares gained 1.5% in early afternoon trading while the CAC 40 index in Paris was down 0.3%.