By Pietro Lombardi

Credit Agricole SA released third-quarter results on Wednesday. Here is what you need to know.

NET PROFIT: Quarterly net profit dropped roughly 19% on year to 977 million euros ($1.15 billion), beating analysts' expectations of EUR747 million, according to a consensus provided by FactSet.

REVENUE: Revenue rose 2.4% to EUR5.15 billion.

WHAT WE WATCHED:

-INVESTMENT BANK: The French bank joined other European peers reporting strong results from market operations. Credit Agricole's fixed-income revenue grew almost 27%.

-PROVISIONS: The lender set aside EUR605 million for potential loan losses, an increase of almost 81% from a year earlier but less than in the second quarter. "Cost of risk was better than expected," Citi says.

-CAPITAL: The bank's core Tier 1 ratio --a key measure of capital strength--increased to 12.4% at the end of September from 12% in June. This was "significantly stronger than expected, driven by stronger earnings and lower RWAs," Jefferies says, referring to risk-weighted assets, a measure of a bank's assets weighted by how risky they are.

Write to Pietro Lombardi at pietro.lombardi@dowjones.com; @pietrolombard10

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

11-04-20 0338ET