BNP Paribas profit falls by 56%

BNP Paribas SA, France's largest bank, said third-quarter profit fell 56 percent as provisions for risky loans quadrupled following the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc and the worsening of European economies.

The bank dropped as much as 6.7 percent in Paris trading after reporting a decline in net income to 901 million euros ($1.17 billion) from 2.03 billion euros a year earlier.

Earnings fell short of the 1.38 billion-euro median estimate of 13 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.