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Net income down 2.2% in Q1, revenue 0.4% lower y/y

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FICC trading sales down 20%; Corporate banking up 6%

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Sees 2024 net income of more than 11.2 bln euros

By Mathieu Rosemain

PARIS, April 25 (Reuters) - BNP Paribas

reported a fall in first-quarter profit and revenue on Thursday

but beat analyst forecasts, as lower expenses and a strong

performance in its corporate banking business offset flat or

falling revenues elsewhere.

The euro zone's biggest bank said group net income over the

first three months of the year declined by 2.2% from a year

earlier to 3.10 billion euros ($3.31 billion), beating the 2.4

billion-euro average of 19 analyst estimates compiled by the

company.

Revenues over the period came in at 12.5 billion euros, down

0.4% but also above the average analyst estimate of 12.2 billion

euros. The cost of risk - money set aside for underperforming

loans - stood at 640 million, below the 819 million euros

expected by analysts.

The French lender, which disappointed investors in February

by delaying a key profitability target, struck an upbeat tone

for 2024, reiterating its goal to generate full-year earnings of

more than 11.2 billion euros.

It also gave a new target for group revenues, saying it

expected them to exceed its 2023 distributable sales of 46.9

billion euros by more than 2%, and that the effects of cost

cutting flagged previously would begin from the second quarter.

However, revenue was flat or falling in most of the bank's

businesses.

Commercial and Personal Banking revenues rose 1% to 4.2

billion euros - above analyst estimates - but the net interest

margins in the French business dropped sharply, BNPP said.

Investors are watching banks' net interest income closely to

see if the boost from rising interest rates, which has helped

bank profitability - and their share prices - soar, is starting

to fade.

BNPP's corporate and investment banking business revenue

fell 4%.

Its global banking revenue rose 6.1% thanks to a jump in

capital markets activities such as helping companies issue

bonds.

But a downturn in BNPP's fixed income, currencies and

commodities (FICC) trading business, which saw revenues slide

20% in the first quarter, was far worse than at the big Wall

Street firms, where trading revenues declined on average by

about 3% as market volatility weakened, according to Jefferies.

($1 = 0.9359 euros)