By Ed Frankl
BNP Paribas SA said it beat expectations in its third quarter as its investment-banking division proved resilient amid strong client demand despite the market slump. The French lender said Thursday that its net profit in the three months to the end of September rose to 2.76 billion euros ($ 2.71 billion) from EUR2.50 billion in the same period a year earlier. That beat expectations of a net profit fall to EUR2.37 billion, according to analysts' consensus provided by FactSet. Revenue increased 8% to EUR12.31 billion, the Paris-based company said, beating consensus expectations of EUR12.00 billion. Revenue at the corporate and institutional banking segment--which bundles up its investment-banking operations--rose 5.9%, driven by its global markets division and a resilient global banking unit, despite what BNP Paribas described as an unfavorable market. But the bank's cost of risk increased by 34% on year to EUR947 million, including a EUR204 million one-off impact from Poland's mortgage holiday, the lender said. Write to Ed Frankl at edward.frankl@dowjones.com-0-