Economic recovery boosts France’s BNP Paribas

French bank BNP Paribas said Friday that the improving economy and cost savings help boost its bottom line in the second quarter.

In the period of April through June the bank generated net profit of 2.9 billion euros ($3.4 billion), an increase of 27 per cent from the same period last year when much of France's economy was shut under pandemic restrictions.

However, it was also 18 percent higher than the second quarter of 2019.

The bottom line was boosted by exceptional items such as the sale of certain assets, but even excluding these items, net profit was still up 16.5 per cent from the second quarter last year and 4.9 per cent from 2019.

"Business activity moved solidly back on track this quarter, as the public health situation improved, albeit with differentiated momentum from one region, one sector, and one business line to another," the bank said in a statement.

The bank's revenues edged 0.9 per cent higher from the same period last year to 11.8 billion euros. That was up 4.9 per cent from 2019.