Société Générale, France's second biggest listed bank, said second-quarter earnings more than doubled after a surge in securities trading and a swing to profit at its foreign retail arm defied Europe's economic slump.
The figures offset investor concerns over SocGen's lagging capital-adequacy ratios.
These are gradually being topped up while rivals Barclays and Deutsche Bank take more radical steps such as raising equity or pruning assets.
The results far exceeded expectations, a day after rival BNP Paribas also beat forecasts, and paved the way for a higher dividend.
"These first-half results are very encouraging for us. We are on track," SocGen's chief executive Frederic Oudea said.
He told analysts that this year's dividend payout ratio was seen at 25% but was likely to rise to 35-50% next year.
Quarterly net income soared to €955m from €436m the same time last year, while revenue slipped 0.6% to €6.23 billion, the bank said today. Both figures were ahead of analysts' estimates.
Within the investment bank, SocGen's fixed-income unit saw 17.2% growth year-on-year, outperforming US heavyweights such as Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley - up 11% and 16% respectively - while larger rivals such as Germany's Deutsche and BNP saw declines.
At its equities arm, SocGen sales rose 38.3% year-on-year, again better than European peers including BNP, Credit Suisse and Barclays, though slightly short of the 40-50% gains posted by several Wall Street firms.
Total investment-banking profits almost tripled to €374m, helped also by the sale of a chunk of bad debt.
As with BNP Paribas, SocGen is in the early stages of a multi-year cost-cutting programme intended to fight the euro zone's economic woes without a more radical restructuring.
Chief executive Oudea said the bank would keep bolstering its balance sheet but ruled out any capital increase or asset-sale drive, saying the combination of its own earnings power and a slew of cost-cutting initiatives would be enough.
SocGen's domestic retail operations, once a reliable profit driver thanks to French households' low debt levels, saw profits fall 11.4% as the weak economy pushed up loan-loss provisions, eating into stronger revenue. It also booked its third litigation provision in as many quarters, setting aside €100m for unspecified "dispute" risks.
