BNP Paribas Securities Services posted an increase of 10% in end-of-year revenues at nearly €2.2 billion, largely due to an increase in transactions it processed for clients.
Revenues for the fourth quarter also increased by nearly a quarter to €627 million, as it benefited from the positive impact of the revaluation of an equity stake.
But assets under custody for the French bank fell by 1.3% to €9.3 trillion as a global sell-off in equity markets hit Europe.
Throughout the year, BNP Paribas Securities Services achieved a number of milestones, including the finalisation of the strategic partnership with Janus Henderson in the US, the acquisition of the depositary banking business of Banco BPM, and a signed global custody mandate with Carmignac for its €44 billion of assets.
However, a €240 billion fund administration and custody mandate deal it had inked with DWS in June last year was pulled at the last minute.
At the group level, BNP Paribas’ investment bank was hit by a sharp fall in revenues for its fixed income, equity and prime services businesses.
Revenues for equity and prime services , which serves hedge fund clients, dropped nearly 70% in the fourth quarter to €145 million, and fell 6% over the year to just over €2 billion. By way of explanation, the bank cited “the impact of extreme market movements at the end of the year on inventories valuation and loss of index derivatives hedging in the United States.”