Fallout from Portuguese bank costs French financial group Credit Agricole $950 million

Credit Agricole's second-quarter profit was nearly cut in half as the French bank became the first major foreign shareholder to report its loss in Portugal's biggest banking scandal.

In its second-quarter earnings report Tuesday, Credit Agricole Group says it lost a total of 708 million euros ($950 million) from writing down its 14.6 percent stake in Banco Espirito Santo to zero.

That helped cut its net profit to 705 million euros ($946 million) in the quarter from 1.39 billion euros in the same period of 2013.

The Paris-based bank is the first major foreign shareholder to detail its losses in Portugal's biggest banking scandal, which blindsided regulators and forced authorities on Sunday to put up 4.9 billion euros ($6.6 billion) to bail out Banco Espirito Santo.