France's Credit Agricole Looks to Europe to Boost Earnings

By Elena Vardon

Credit Agricole S.A. is hoping to grow outside its home market in its new three-year plan and to deepen its presence beyond its borders to lift earnings.

The French bank aims to deliver more than 8.5 billion euros, equivalent to $9.85 billion, in net profit in 2028, from 6.9 billion euros in 2024, on revenue that will growth more than 3.5% per year to exceed 30 billion euros by the end of the period, it said on Tuesday.

It expects to grow its customer base to 60 million--from around 54 million currently--and for nearly 60% of its top line to come from its international operations, compared with 55%.

Credit Agricole S.A. is the listed vehicle of the 39 French regional banks which make up Credit Agricole Group. Beyond its large footprint in France, the bank has built a large presence in Italy through acquisitions dating back three decades and its stake in Banco BPM.

The lender wants to go further broaden its market reach by developing new growth drivers across the continent: it plans to roll out its universal model in Germany--where it is already has consumer finance operations--with the creation of Credit Agricole Deutschland, to launch a digital savings platform and a digital bank for professionals while strengthening its presence among European mid-cap companies.

"We have the capacity to go much further in conquering Europe," Chief Executive Olivier Gavalda said. "We wanted to be much more offensive on Germany because it is the leading European economy," he added.

Credit Agricole is targeting a cost to income ratio below 55% by the end of the plan, which should help yield a return on tangible equity--a key measure of profitability--of more than 14%.

"In an uncertain environment, Credit Agricole S.A.'s medium-term plan relies on solid fundamentals and a diversified model with growth drivers across all businesses," finance chief Clotilde L'Angevin said. Its asset manager Amundi separately outlined targets for the same period.

The bank added that it will introduce an interim dividend payment from 2026, adding that its distribution policy is based on a 50% payout in cash.

Write to Elena Vardon at elena.vardon@wsj.com

Corrections & Amplifications

This story was corrected at 0652 GMT. The earlier version misstated the current number of customers as 55 million. The currect number is 54 million.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 18, 2025 01:33 ET (06:33 GMT)