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CL profit swells 74%
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March 6, 2001: 6:55 a.m. ET
French bank's full year profit rises to $888M; writes off future cost of loan
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LONDON (CNN) - Credit Lyonnais posted a 74 percent rise in profit on Tuesday and the bank seized the chance to write off future costs of a loss-making loan.
The formerly debt-laden French bank said profit before one-off items for 2000 came in at  960 million ($888 million), compared with 553 million in the previous year.
Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast profit between 850-960 million.
 Net banking income, the most useful indicator of a bank's revenue, rose 9 percent to 6.804 billion, from 6.244 billion in 1999.
The bank wrote off a total of 683 million for a loan to EPFR, including a pretax 412 million for 2001 through 2005, and 271 million for 2000, or 176 million after tax.
Net profit, after the charge for the future cost of the loss-making loan, came in at 701 million.
When Credit Lyonnais was restructured ahead of its privatisation in 1999, the bank put its loss-making assets in a holding company and then had to grant a loan below market rates to the vehicle known as the EPFR to fund the assets.
In addition to the loss-making loan, Credit Lyonnais had to carry out a series of asset sales to get EU approval for a massive state bailout package which saved the bank from bankruptcy before it was privatised.
Gross operating income came in at just under 1.997 billion, below analysts' forecasts of 1.764 billion.
Credit Lyonnais (PCL) shares were down 0.2 percent at 37.41 by midday in Paris, after earlier rising by as much as 1.8 percent after announcing its results.
--from staff and wire reports 
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