European Banking Majors Top Estimates on Trading Strength

Europe’s largest listed banks delivered stronger-than-expected second-quarter earnings, buoyed by resilient trading desks and stable credit quality despite a subdued economic backdrop. Swiss-based UBS Group led the pack, reporting a net profit of $2.40 billion on revenue of $12.11 billion, both ahead of analysts’ forecasts. Chief executives said an anticipated easing in global trade tensions could revive client activity in the second half. In Paris, BNP Paribas posted revenue of €12.58 billion and net income of €3.26 billion, beating estimates as fixed-income trading income rose to €1.41 billion. Loan-loss provisions increased modestly to €884 million, while the common-equity Tier 1 ratio stood at 12.5 percent. Deutsche Bank’s net revenue climbed to €7.80 billion and net income to €1.49 billion, helped by €2.30 billion from fixed-income and currency trading. The German lender kept its CET1 capital ratio essentially unchanged and reiterated its full-year return-on-tangible-equity goal. Barclays rounded out the reporting week with a £2.48 billion pretax profit, surpassing expectations on robust investment-bank revenue of £3.31 billion and lower-than-forecast credit provisions of £469 million.