PARIS: French bank Credit Agricole is seen posting a thumping 2.7 billion-euro ($3.58 billion) loss for the fourth quarter on Thursday, hit by recently disclosed writedowns on the value of its shrinking investment bank and stakes in euro-zone lenders.
Semi-cooperative Credit Agricole, which is under new management and trying to return to its low-risk retail banking roots, in December scrapped its 2014 profit targets and warned it would take 2.4 billion euros in one-off charges.
The charges are split between goodwill writedowns at the investment bank, where jobs are being slashed and businesses shut down, and writedowns on Credit Agricole's stakes in Spain's Bankinter and Portugal's Banco Espirito Santo.
Also on Thursday, smaller investment banking-focused rival Natixis is expected to report a decline in quarterly earnings as its results were likely slammed by the same capital markets weakness which roiled the industry as a whole.
Credit Agricole and Natixis are the last of the country's big banks to report results. Last week BNP Paribas, the largest, reported better than forecast quarterly profits while Societe Generale forecast a grim 2012 after a loss at its investment bank.
Credit Agricole is seen reporting a quarterly loss of 2.75 billion euros, wider than the 328 million-euro loss it reported a year ago, according to a Reuters poll of 11 analysts. Revenue is seen dropping 6.5 percent, to 4.54 billion euros.
Natixis earnings are seen sliding 47 percent to 247.33 million euros, according to the average of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S, with revenue declining 13 percent to 1.51 billion.
Credit Agricole's writedowns on Greek sovereign debt, to which it is less exposed than BNP Paribas and Societe Generale , are seen at 265.5 million euros.
However, Credit Agricole is exposed to the Greek economy via its currently unprofitable local subsidiary Emporiki. The management's outlook for this unit will be in focus following the recent bailout agreement on Greece.
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