French bank Natixis reports profit slump on another sub-prime hit
Posted: 15 May 2008 1737 hrs

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PARIS: French investment bank Natixis said on Thursday its first-quarter earnings plunged 88 percent after it had to take further write-downs on its exposure to the US sub-prime home loan crisis.

Natixis said its three months to March net profit came in at 69 million euros (107 million euros) and that it would seek to cut costs by some 400 million euros, mainly in its investment operations.

"The impact of the financial crisis is still significant but clearly easing," it said.

The collapse of the US sub-prime or higher risk home loan market cost Natixis 439 million euros in the first quarter after 1.39 billion euros in the last three months of 2007.

Leading US and European banks have been hit with heavy losses after a wave of US defaults and home foreclosures undermined the value of billions of dollars' worth of mortgage-backed securities.

Earlier this week, Credit Agricole said it needed to raise about 5.9 billion euros in fresh cash from shareholders to help repair its balance sheet as a result.


- AFP/so