BNP Paribas Reports Better-Than-Expected 1Q Net Profit

French bank BNP Paribas SA (BNP.FR) reported a better-than-expected net profit for the first quarter, aided by a rebound in bond trading.

The Paris-based lender, France's largest listed bank by assets, said net profit rose 4% to 1.89 billion euros ($2.06 billion) from EUR1.81 billion a year earlier. That beat analysts' expectations for a profit of EUR1.54 billion, according to a poll by data provider FactSet. Revenue rose 4% to EUR11.3 billion.

Like other U.S. and European lenders, BNP Paribas benefited from a rebound in bond trading, in spite of the Trump administration's failure to deliver on promises for tax reform and looser financial regulation.

BNP Paribas is the first major French bank to report first-quarter earnings. Societe Generale SA (GLE.FR) reports results on May 4 and Credit Agricole SA (ACA.FR) reports on May 11.

Write to Noemie Bisserbe at noemie.bisserbe@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 03, 2017 01:14 ET (05:14 GMT)