French banking power BNP Paribas said today that it had weathered the impact of a global credit squeeze in the third quarter, when its net earning soared 21% from the same time last year.
The group said net profit from July to September rose to €2.027 billion despite writedowns and provisions stemming from the credit crisis, which cost it €301m in the quarter.
BNP Paribas said the credit crunch, which emerged last August amid a meltdown in the US sub-prime, or high-risk, mortgage market, had a limited impact on its refinancing costs.
It said it had 'access to liquidity on competitive terms during the entire period,' while 'refinancing needs did not increase significantly.'
The company's third-quarter operating profit rose 12.2% to €2.585 billion while sales came to €7.690 billion, up 12.6% from third quarter 2006.
'The relative good performance given the current crisis, compared to its main American and European competitors, is explained by a different business and geographic mix and by its model focused primarily on client business, with limited exposure to proprietary trading,' the group said.
