Posts record Q2 earnings, sales
Agrees to acquire wealth manager Degroof Petercam
Top investor to buy 1 bln euros worth of shares

PARIS, Aug 4 Reuters Credit Agricole SA, France39;s secondbiggest listed bank, posted betterthanexpected quarterly earnings on Friday, driven by a strong performance of its insurance and consumer finance divisions.

The listed entity of Credit Agricole Group, controlled by 39 French mutual banks, also announced it had agreed to buy a majority stake in Belgian wealth manager Degroof Petercam for an undisclosed amount in a move that would increase the scope of its Indosuez Wealth Management division by roughly 50.

Credit Agricole39;s secondquarter net income group share jumped by 25 from a year earlier to 2.04 billion euros, well above the 1.39 billioneuro average of analyst estimates compiled by the company.

Quarterly sales rose by 19 to 6.68 billion euros, also beating the consensus of 5.9 billion euros for the threemonths period ending in June.

The cost of risk money set aside for failing loans more than doubled to 534 million euros, because of a market significant case and a higher risk on retail banking and consumer credit.

Both sales and earnings reached record highs in the second quarter, the bank said, driven notably by the insurance business and its socalled special financial services SFS unit.

The latter comprises the lender39;s consumer finance activities, whose sales were notably boosted by the addition of a joint venture…