BNP Paribas unveiled a cost-cutting and Asian expansion programme yesterday as it reported an 8 per cent rise in 2012 net profits, but falling Q4 profits in its Italian bank.

France’s biggest bank by assets and revenues said it aimed to cut annual costs by €2 billion a year through a three-year plan from 2014-2016.

BNP said the savings would be achieved without closing down any businesses and would generate savings of €2 billion a year from 2015.

The savings would help fund its expansion programme, initially in Asia and later the US and some emerging markets.

BNP reported net profit of €6.6 billion in 2012. This included a €1.6 billion writedown on the theoretical cost of buying back its own debt, which was only partially offset by gains elsewhere. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2013.