Yesterday, Paris-based BNP Paribas released positive Q3 financial results for 2026.

BNP Paribas net income was up 13.5 per cent reaching €3.46 billion ($3.85 billion) in the third quarter of 2026, compared with the €3.04 billion at the same time the previous year, beating forecasts. It was helped by strong performance in its investment banking division.

Pre-tax income amounted to €1.0 billion, up by 26.4 per cent compared with 2025, the firm said in a statement. Wealth Management achieved solid net inflows, driven by a positive momentum across commercial and personal banking in Europe and APAC. Pre-tax income was significantly higher, supported by a high level of transactional activity in Asia, strong recurring fees and solid deposit revenues.

Revenue was up 9.5 per cent year-on-year at €13.76 billion, slightly above expectatiosn. Equities trading surged 50 per cent year-on-year to drive strong performance in the corporate and institutional banking (CIB) division.

The firm also announced a €1.3 billion share buyback programme scheduled to launch in November 2026.

Over the first nine months, assets under management growth was driven by the combined impacts of: (i) strong net inflows (+€49.4 billion), (ii) a positive market effect (+€37.9 billion), (iii) a positive forex impact (+€28.0 billion), and (iv) other negative impacts for -€9.1 billion. Sixty-six per cent of AuM was in asset management, 21 per cent in wealth management and 13 per cent in insurance, BNP Paribas said.

Asset management benefited from strong business momentum, with significant net inflows of €31 billion in the first nine months. Assets under management have expanded significantly since 2025 (+€65.8 billion), driven by market performance, the exchange effect and net inflows offsetting the -€39 billion impact of the divestment of a stake in South Korea, the bank added.

Real estate remained subdued amid a lacklustre market, the firm said.

“The group achieved a very strong third quarter driven by the operating performance across all three divisions,” Jean-Laurent Bonnafé, chief executive officer, said. “These results reflect the strength of our global client franchises, our diversified business model and the commitment of our teams all over the world.”

“These strong results reinforce our commitment, disciplined transformation and the execution of our strategic initiatives while keeping our foremost priority firmly in focus: helping our clients successfully carry out their projects, whatever the environment,” he continued. “Our ambitions for this new development phase will be laid out in our 2030 Plan that will be presented on 2 February.”

However, French banks face challenges with rising eurozone sovereign bond yields, especially in their home country.