BNP To Explain Growth, Cost Plans As Fortis Integration Proceeds

Tom Burroughes

1 December 2009

France’s BNP Paribas is to set out its plans to save costs and expand its business through the acquisition of the Belgian banking group Fortis, one of the firms hit by the financial crisis, according to media reports.

BNP bought Fortis for €10.4 billion ($15.63 billion), in the process acquiring a private wealth management business that has propelled the Paris-listed firm to the top of the ranks of the euro zone wealth management league in terms of assets under management.

The firm is due to issue presentations to journalists today in Brussels, featuring talks by chief executive officer Baudouin Prot and Jean-Laurent Bonnafe, who is in charge of the BNP Paribas Fortis unit, according to Dow Jones.

Analysts anticipate a revision of the €500 million annual cost synergy forecast BNP Paribas gave in October 2008, right at the start of its seven-month campaign to acquire Fortis.

Fortis' extra revenue and accounting gains from the acquisition have helped to lift BNP Paribas' group profit in the past two quarters. Analysts want a better understanding of what it will provide on a regular basis.

In early November, the wealth and asset management division of BNP Paribas said it logged a pre-tax income of €172 million, up from €128 million in the same quarter a year ago.