Thanks to an excellent year in 2021, the Crdit Agricole group achieved the objectives of its strategic plan a year ahead of schedule.
2021, a prosperous year for French banks, and especially for one of the main ones, Crédit Agricole. The banking group, which brings together the regional banks of Crdit Agricole and its other activities within its listed subsidiary Crdit Agricole SA, has doubled its net profit to reach the sum of 9.1 billion euros, a record. Very good results, according to Philippe Brassac, CEO of the Crdit Agricole SA group, which allow the company to achieve its end-2022 objectives a year ahead of schedule.
In the 2021 charts, the group is close behind BNP Paribas, which announced Tuesday a slightly higher annual net profit, around 9.5 billion euros. Net banking income (NBI), the equivalent of turnover for the sector, reached 36.82 billion euros last year, up 9.6% compared to 2020.
These results are excellent and are ultimately the translation of our commercial results, welcomed Dominique Lefebvre, chairman of the group’s board of directors during a press conference. The number of regional mutual customers increased by 266,000 unitsthanks to the gross recruitment of more than 1.22 million new customers in France, to which must be added 335,000 new customers at LCL, the retail network in France of Crdit Agricole SA.
Like other French establishments, the mutual bank has taken full advantage of the economic rebound that began at the end of 2020, leaving behind the worst of the health crisis. This improvement in the economic situation resulted in a sharp drop in the cost of risk, that is to say, provisions made to deal with any defaults in repayment by its borrowing customers. This cost of risk thus fell last year by nearly 50% to 1.849 billion euros.
The listed entity Crdit Agricole SA ended 2021 with a bang, multiplying its income by more than ten in the fourth quarter compared to the same period the previous year. Over the year 2021, it brought in 5.84 billion euros, above analysts’ forecasts.
First private employer in France
The bank benefited last year from the entry into its fold of the Italian bank Credito Valtellinese (Creval), acquired via a public takeover bid (OPA) launched in November 2020 and completed last April. Its subsidiary specializing in asset management, Amundi, also offered Lyxor to Société Générale at the end of the year, for an amount of 825 million euros.
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The Crdit Agricole group relies on a universal local bank model, offering all the different banking businesses while maintaining a strong presence throughout France. It prides itself on being the leading financing body for the French economy, particularly in the renewable energy segment, but also the leading private employer in France and the leading tax and social contributor in France.
Dividend up
At the end of this exceptional year, the listed entity indicated that it wanted to pay a dividend of €1.05 per share, a level not seen for more than 15 years. A large part of the dividends goes to the regional mutuals.
We have more than 7 billion euros of retained results which can naturally be re-injected into development, the economy, the territories and above all in the support of an urgent transition that we have supported in our environment, underlined Philippe Brassac. .
Finally, the core capital ratio, CET1, a key indicator that measures the ability to overcome a possible crisis, rose to 17.5% for the group as a whole, well above regulatory requirements.