Net profit fell 0.1 percent to €2.93 billion ($3.43 billion) compared with €2.96 billion in the same period last year Four analysts polled by consultancy Inquiry Financial for Reuters expected a median profit of €2.07 billion PARIS: BNP Paribas, France’s biggest listed bank, reported a slight dip in second quarter profits which nevertheless beat market forecasts, as higher revenues from its international financial services unit offset sluggish fixed-income trading. Net profit fell 0.1 percent to €2.93 billion ($3.43 billion) compared with €2.96 billion in the same period last year. Four analysts polled by consultancy Inquiry Financial for Reuters expected a median profit of €2.07 billion. Overall, group revenues rose 2.5 percent from the same period to €11.21 billion, compared with a median forecast for revenues of around €10.9 billion. Revenue from its corporate and investment banking (CIB) unit fell 6.8 percent to €2.98 billion, while revenue from international financial services, which include its consumer lending arm, its US bank and its insurance business, rose 8.7 percent to €4.28 billion. In the January-March period, plummeting revenue from fixed-income trading had impacted results. That trend continued in the second quarter, with revenue from corporate and investment banking falling 6.8 percent. The bank attributed the weakness in fixed-income trading to certain factors in the European market, such as persistently low interest rates. The corporate and investment banking division was also hit by a weaker dollar. Yet even though that negative trend had continued, BNP Paribas found other sources of profits elsewhere. While those low rates have hit parts of its investment banking business, they have also conversely buoyed other businesses such as consumer lending and life insurance. Solid economic growth in the US also lifted BancWest’s profits. Revenue from the US bank rose 22 percent in US dollar terms, or 12 percent when translated into euros. The strong performance at the international financial services arm also mitigated weakness in BNP Paribas’ French retail bank, where revenues fell 0.5 percent during the quarter.