Leading French bank Credit Agricole reported on Wednesday a rise of 55.6 percent in its net profit in 2005 to 3.891 billion euros (4.646 billion dollars).

The gain reflected "strong growth in France and, above all, combined with a successful mastering of costs under conditions that were generally favorable for both the markets and in terms of risk costs," the bank said in a statement.

The increase was also partly due to a reduction in charges after the merger of Credit Agricole and Credit Lyonnais, which had been France's third biggest bank before being bought by Credit Agricole in 2003.

Credit Agricole earlier announced it would spend five billion euros (about 6 billion U.S. dollars) by 2008 to increase its overseas profit from 35 percent to 50 percent.

For 2006, it would expand the presence of its investment banks Calyon Financial and CLSA in Asia and reinforce the presence of CA Cheuvreux in Britain and Eastern Europe, the bank said.

Source: Xinhua