BNP Paribas saw a 3.3% increase in its overall revenue in the second quarter of 2023 compared to Q2 2022, despite a dip in its corporate and institutional performance and global markets results.
Revenue for the corporate and institutional banking area were down 2.3% overall this quarter compared to Q2 2022, with a noted decrease in fixed income currencies and commodities (FICC) revenues attributed to “the normalisation of the activity in a less buoyant environment, particularly in fixed-income and currency products and commodity derivatives”.
The bank also noted an overall decrease in equity market revenues – citing a “lacklustre environment” during the quarter.
Overall pre-tax income for corporate and institutional banking however was up 4.7% versus Q2 2022.
In global markets revenues were down 11.7% from last year with “the very good performance in credit activities offset by a more normalised level of activity on the rates, foreign-exchange and commodities markets compared to a high second quarter 2022 base,” said the bank.
Compared to Q2 2022, FICC saw an 18.4% decrease, while equity and prime services saw a fall of 3% – demonstrating better resiliency in the face of the dip in client activity.
Despite these results, the net income for the bank saw an increase of 16.4% quarter on quarter, excluding exceptional items.
Speaking to the H1 performance so far, BNP Paribas noted that the growth had effectively offset the effects of the Bank of the West sale with BMO Financial Group in 2022, completed in February this year.
BNP’s global banking revenue performance was notably strong, with a 17.5% increase in the quarter versus Q2 2022, with transaction banking up 75.6%.
The bank also noted a “very strong increase in the capital markets platform, particularly in the Americas and EMEA”.
“These results are also based on the solidity of our diversified model and our capacity to pursue development in all phases of the economic cycle. With its GTS 2025 strategic plan, the Group continues to develop leading platforms at the service of the European economy, to pursue its technological progress and to support its clients in their transition towards a more sustainable model,” said Jean-Laurent Bonnafé, director and chief executive of BNP Paribas.
The business saw notable movement at the senior level of its workforce during the quarter. Earlier this month, BNP Paribas Securities Services global head of investment analytics and data services, Neil Ryan, left to become head of product marketing and solution positioning at FINBOURNE Technology.
Before that, the bank strengthened its equities unit in London, hiring the Credit Suisse risk arbitrage team – EMEA event driven sales specialist, Susan Stryker Marinello, and arbitrage traders Andy Martin and Simon Scott – according to two people familiar with the matter.
In the same month, BNP Paribas and NatWest announced they were going live with Dynamic Credit from CobaltFX to simplify the allocation of credit for FX transactions between banks. The move was set to help the firms manage credit exposures for their financial institutions.