French banking group Credit Agricole's (CAGR.PA) shares rose sharply on Thursday after it joined rivals BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA) and Societe Generale (SOGN.PA) in announcing better-than-expected quarterly profits driven by buoyant investment banking.
Net income was 1.98 billion euros ($2 billion), a figure about 800 million euros higher than the average estimate of analysts.
Analysts also underestimated revenues, which rose 8.8% to 6.33 billions euros, roughly 10% higher than expected.
Shares in Credit Agricole gained up to 4.8% in early trading, their biggest jump since March, and were the best performing stocks across the European banking sector (.SX7E), up just 0.8%.
While activity grew across business lines, including retail banking, the bank's management said investment banking was particularly strong during the quarter.
Underlying revenues for the Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB) division jumped by 22% to 1.58 billion euros, a performance the bank said reflected "record commercial activity, in a context of high volatility and high customer hedging needs".
Fixed income, currencies and commodity (FICC) trading jumped by about 37%, while "buoyant" investment and equity activities rose 12.8% as financial markets experienced one of the worst first halves in living memory.
A sharp drop in the cost of risk - money set aside for failing loans - also helped to lift the group's profits after provisions were taken during the first quarter to compensate for the potential economic impact of the war in Ukraine.
