Crédit Agricole Consumer Finance confirms its market-leading position in Europe

Crédit Agricole Consumer Finance celebrated its first anniversary on 1 April 2011. On 1 April 2010, the merger took place between Sofinco and Finaref - the Crédit Agricole Group's two consumer credit companies - resulting in the creation of the European market leader in consumer credit.

The growth achieved by CA Consumer Finance in 2010 follows on from that achieved previously by Sofinco and Finaref. Outstanding loans under management increased by 3% year-on-year to €78.1 billion at the end of 2010, despite difficult economic conditions having a significant impact on the consumer credit market. This robust momentum is reflected in all three major geographic areas covered by CA Consumer Finance: France (€30 billion in outstanding loans, representing 39% of the total), Italy (€28 billion in outstanding loans, representing 36% of the total) and the 20 other countries in which it operates (€20 billion in outstanding loans, representing 25% of the total).

In 2010, CA Consumer Finance also achieved very strong growth in pre-tax income, up 46% at €815.7 million, with net income - Group share of €460.5 million. This performance was thanks to robust revenue growth, coupled with a reduction in cost of risk in the second half of the year (down 3% over the full year) and very tight control of operating expenses (reduced by 0.5%).

From 2008 to 2010, CA Consumer Finance carried out three large-scale mergers in order to improve its operating efficiency. In addition to the merger between Sofinco and Finaref in France, the merger between Agos and Ducato in Italy and between Interbank and Ribank in the Netherlands have created a national market leader in consumer credit in each of these countries.

A number of major plans were also initiated in 2010:
- The reorganisation of commercial networks in France, in order to consolidate the company's close relationships with both its clients and its commercial partners in the automotive and home equipment sectors.
- The launch of a new advertising campaign for the Sofinco brand in France in November.
- Further international expansion, with the proportion of outstanding loans under management outside France - primarily in Europe – rising from 25% to 60% over the last 10 years. In 2010, CA Consumer Finance launched a car financing business in China, the 22nd country in which it is present. This confirms CA Consumer Finance's expertise in car financing - representing around 40% of outstandings under management - as demonstrated by its partnerships with Fiat (FGA Capital in 13 European countries) and Ford (Forso in four countries in Northern Europe).
- The creation of major new partnerships, notably with Pixmania in 15 European countries and Suzuki in Germany.
- The strengthening of partnerships with Crédit Agricole S.A.'s banking networks.

Philippe Dumont, Chief Executive Officer of Crédit Agricole Consumer Finance, comments: "These excellent results, achieved thanks to our highly motivated staff, confirm our position as market leader in Europe and attest to our ability to expand in order to serve our customers, our partners and other Group entities within the framework of Crédit Agricole's strategy in “customer-centric universal banking in Europe”."