Crédit Agricole invests 325 million in Cariparma. Target +83% profit by 2014

The Cariparma Crédit Agricole group presented its medium-term strategies for the period 2011-2014 today in Milan. The plan envisages the opening of 10 branches a year for the period 2012-2014 and investments of 325 million euro, aimed at branch automation, multi-channel and development of the Business and Corporate sector. The objectives at the end of the plan are a 30% increase in revenues (up to 2,2 billion euros) and an 83% increase in net profit (to 417 million). Return on equity is forecast at 9% for 2014. The group's chief executive officer Jean Paul Chifflet underlined the importance for Crèdit Agricole dell'Italia which, thanks to the majority stakes in Cariparma and Friuladria, is today the second market after France and represents 16% of the group's turnover. Chifflet said that Crédit Agricole had sold the option rights of the capital increase of Intesa Sanpaolo for 65 million euros and that the stake in the Italian institute at the end of the recapitalization will be around 3,8%. Cariparma Crédit Agricole, with 8 million customers, is the 7th Italian banking group by size and the 4th by results. The 2011-2014 plan comes after a three-year period which, despite the economic-financial crisis and the increase in regulatory and competitive pressure, is considered positive by virtue of the greater increase in loans and deposits and the lower decline in the cost of credit and the index ROE compared to the market. According to the managing director of Cariparma, Giampiero Maioli, the industrial plan aims to consolidate the model of "universal bank of proximity", aiming on the one hand at the growth of the customer base and on the other at supporting the area of ​​competence. The Cariparma group, 75% controlled by Crédit Agricole, after the purchase of Carispezia (2011), is now present in many of the wealthiest Italian regions with 903 branches. Maioli emphasized the development of an organic growth plan, excluding further large acquisitions in the next three years and forecasting the achievement of 150.000 new customers through the opening of 4 new branches in 2011 and 10 per year for the period 2012- 2014, as well as the integration of the 180 branches recently acquired. Finally, the CEO stated that the sponsorship contract of the Cariparma Group with the national rugby team has been extended until 2015.