BNP Paribas revealed it had 5 billion euros of exposure to Greek sovereign debt, the largest so far among major French banks, amid worries over wider contagion from the Greece debt crisis.
BNP on Thursday also posted first-quarter net profit that beat analyst forecasts, thanks to improved market conditions and the integration of Fortis, and said the economic recovery had begun.
Speaking on BFM radio BNP’s chief executive Baudouin Prot tried to calm fears that the Greek economic crisis could spread to Italy and Portugal.
“All the scenarios for the contagion of the Greek crisis to Spain and Portugal are unfounded,” he said.
However, he said that BNP had also decided not to reveal its exposure to euro zone countries aside from Greece.
“We have decided at BNP Paribas that we will not give any number on countries in the euro zone besides Greece,” he told Radio Classique.
The bank pegged its Greek sovereign debt exposure at 5 billion euros (US$6.49 billion), a day after rival Societe Generale said its exposure was 3 billion euros.
BNP also said yesterday that it had 3 billion euros in corporate commitments in Greece, mainly with international firms involved in maritime defense and with risks that had “minimal correlation” to Greece’s economy.
BNP’s other major French rival, Credit Agricole, has said its sovereign Greek exposure is 850 million euros.
French bank Natixis’ parent company BPCE said yesterday its exposure to Greece stood at 2.1 billion euros. Sovereign exposure was 1.4 billion euros.
This puts BNP firmly ahead of both French peers in Greek exposure. Unlike them, BNP does not have a significant banking subsidiary in Greece, and analysts see the group as less vulnerable to the broader Greek economy.
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