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BNP Paribas missed analysts’ profit forecasts after taking an unexpected €534m impairment charge on the value of its stake in Axa, the French insurer.

BNP Paribas full-year results RevenuesNet profitEarnings per shareDividend€43.9bn€7.83bn€6.33€2.10↑9.2%↑34.5%↑21%↑40%BNP, France’s biggest bank by market capitalisation, reported net income of €1.55bn for the fourth quarter, up 14 per cent year on year but below consensus estimates of about €1.7bn.

The bank attributed the Axa charge to the “highly volatile stock market” since the financial crisis, which saw the insurer’s share price frequently trading below book value.

“It was deemed consistent with accounting rules and prudent to value the group’s long-term investment in Axa at the year-end market price, which was €12.45,” BNP said. Since then, Axa’s share price has rebounded, giving BNP an unrealised gain on its 5 per cent stake.

The results may disappoint investors after Wednesday’s strong earnings report from Société Générale, BNP’s domestic rival. SocGen comfortably beat analysts’ expectations in reporting a net profit of €874m in the fourth quarter, a four-fold increase.

For the year, BNP reported total group revenues of €43.9bn, up 9.2 per cent from 2009. Fourth-quarter revenues totalled €10.3bn, an increase of 2.6 per cent.

After acquiring Belgium’s Fortis bank in 2009 amid the fallout from the financial crisis, BNP said on Thursday that the savings from integrating the businesses are expected to increase. The group raised its total synergy targets to €1.2bn by 2012, up from €900m on increased savings across corporate and investment banking and some geographic regions.

The bank also revised upward its estimate of the costs of integrating the Fortis assets, from €1.3bn to €1.65bn.

Pre-tax profits of €1.1bn at BNP’s corporate and investment bank were slightly below analysts’ estimates, largely on higher expenses. The bank’s fixed income, currencies and commodities unit, however, held up better than some European and US rivals, while its equities business performed well.

The cost to income ratio in the investment bank was 53.7 per cent for the year, significantly below European rivals such as UBS, Credit Suisse, and Barclays Capital.

BNP’s return on equity rose to 12.3 per cent, up from 10.8 per cent in 2009, while its core tier one capital ratio – the key measure of top-notch capital – stood at 9.2 per cent at the end of the year, up from 8 per cent at the end of 2009.