“Crédit Agricole S.A.’s 2024 results are remarkable in several respects. Firstly, it recorded strong growth of +11.6% compared with 2023 and reached an all-time high. Secondly, it far exceeded the target set in our “Ambitions 2025” Medium-Term Plan a year ahead of schedule. And finally, it built on the almost linear progression of our income over the last 10 years.
This performance is thanks to sustained activity in all our business lines, which has generated high revenue levels, up +7.9% compared with 2023. At the same time, the controlled increase of recurrent expenses, which finance the development of our business lines, has enabled us to maintain operational efficiency at the highest level. Our cost/income ratio was 54.4%, well below the 2025 target set in our Medium-Term Plan.
In addition to organic growth, the first pillar of our development, we have forged a series of external growth operations and partnerships. This second pillar is based on our ability to seize opportunities, both through the generation of capital that enables us to finance them and through our positioning amongst the main players in the European market which lends us the role of consolidator. Between 2022 and 2024, close to €7.2bn was dedicated to new transactions, each of which will generate additional revenues and preserve our balanced finances.
Crédit Agricole’s robustness is also confirmed by solid indicators: CET1 solvency ratios comfortably above regulatory levels for both Crédit Agricole S.A. and Crédit Agricole Group; a liquidity reserve of more than €470bn at Group level1 and steadily growing customer deposits, two-thirds of which are granular deposits from individual customers and SMEs.
Our excellent results enabled us to release a dividend of €1.10 per share for the financial year 2024, up +5% compared with the 2023 dividend and increased by 3.1 over 10 years. This is an attractive level of profit for our shareholders, reflecting the steady growth in the Group’s size and the profitability of its business lines”.
1Solvency and liquidity are analysed at Crédit Agricole Group level under the legal internal financial strength mechanism provided for in Article L. 511-31 of the French Monetary and Financial Code. See also “The internal solidarity mechanism”.