BNP Paribas Q1 profit rises 17.5 pct as euro zone loan demand revives

PARIS: BNP Paribas posted better-than-expected 17.5 percent growth in first-quarter net income on 30th April, as the French bank saw a long-awaited revival in euro zone loan demand.

Boosted by firm investment banking activity, France's biggest bank reported net income of 1.648 billion euros ($1.83 billion), up from 1.403 in the first three months of 2014.

The result, which included a 245 million euro contribution to a new European fund to handle failed banks, topped analysts` average expectation for 1.458 billion as polled by Thomson Reuters.

Revenue, a fifth of which comes from dollars, grew 11.6 percent to 11.065 billion euros as the European currency fell to a 12-year low against the dollar.

($1 = 0.9010 euros)