Credit Agricole profit jumps 11%, but CEO signals caution on French loan demand

By Mateusz Rabiega

Oct 30 (Reuters) - France's Credit Agricole reported an 11% like-for-like rise in its third-quarter net profit on Friday, helped by revenue growth at its corporate and investment banking business and solid performance at its domestic retail arm.

However, CEO Olivier Gavalda told journalists that loan demand would probably decline, as investment and projects in France have been slowing down.

• Investment banking revenue grew 10% to €1.75 billion ($1.96 billion), with a substantial rise in fixed income, currencies and commodities sales outperforming French rivals BNP Paribas and Societe Generale

• But JPMorgan analysts said the results painted a mixed picture with elevated cost of risks and consensus misses in specialist lending and international retail

• Credit Agricole shares dropped around 2% in early trading, falling deeper than the wider European banking index.

• The bank's quarterly profit attributable to shareholders was €1.99 billion, slightly ahead of LSEG-compiled average forecasts

• Total revenue rose 8% to €7.09 billion, compared with an LSEG poll forecast of €7.01 billion

• Revenue at the French retail arm grew 17% to a record €1.15 billion

($1 = 0.8930 euros)

(Reporting by Mateusz Rabiega in Gdansk; Editing by Tommy Reggiori Wilkes and Milla Nissi-Prussak)