Credit Agricole Share Price (0GTI)

Credit Agricole announced that it will implement a cost savings plan through 2016 valued at €650m. On the new business plan, Chifflet said: "There will be two main priorities governing the undertaking: the acceleration of improvements to our universal customer-focused bank and a deepening of changes that we've already begun on specialised financial services." The board has decided it will skip a dividend for a second year.

Credit Agricole has posted a record loss for 2012 after goodwill writedowns and a tax charge related to the sale of its Greek unit forced the French bank to use more red ink. The total loss for 2012 amounted to €6.47bn compared to a €1.47bn loss in the prior year. The bank reported a loss of €3.982bn for the fourth quarter alone, 29.8% more than in the year-ago period. Some €2.67bn in goodwill writedowns were taken in the fourth quarter to reflect stricter accounting rules and a worsening economy and included writedowns at its Italian and investment banking businesses. The bank also booked a €706m loss on the sale of its Greek unit Emporiki. "Leaving Greece cost us dearly but it was a necessary decision," said Chief Executive Jean-Paul Chifflet.

Credit Agricole is in a rally of its own kind after US investment firm JP Morgan upgraded the stock from 'underweight' to 'neutral'. Like the rest of the financial sector, the French bank is also benefiting from the European Central Bank's bond purchase plan presented on Thursday. JP Morgan raised its price target for the stock from €5 to €5.50 thanks to its positive assessment of the sale of Greek subsidiary Emporiki. Shares of Credit Agricole climbed 8.44% on Thursday and opened on Friday with another 7.98% gain. The stock was leading the gains on the Cac40 and traded at €5.41 on Friday morning.