BNP Paribas Profit Jumps 33% on Record Equities Trading

BNP Paribas, France's largest bank, reported second-quarter 2026 net profit of 4.35 billion euros, a 33% increase from a year earlier that surpassed analyst expectations. Group revenue rose 12% to 14.1 billion euros, which management described as the strongest revenue growth in a decade. The performance was powered by record revenue in the equities trading division and a recovery in retail banking in France and Belgium, helping to absorb higher integration costs from the acquisition of AXA Investment Managers. Fixed-income, currencies and commodities trading was broadly flat, lagging major US rivals. Profit was also boosted by a one-off gain of about 858 million euros from restructuring the bank's insurance partnership with Ageas. Significantly, BNP Paribas said it had reached its 13% common equity tier 1 capital ratio target well ahead of its 2027 schedule, paving the way for larger shareholder distributions in future years. As the first major European investment bank to report second-quarter results, its numbers were watched as a gauge of how well European lenders can keep pace with Wall Street. The bank's shares have outperformed the European banking sector in 2026.