FRANCE - The asset management and services (AMS) division of French bank BNP Paribas saw its assets under management drop €4.1bn in the last quarter of 2007.

Presenting its fourth quarter results, BNP said its asset management arm had €278.3bn in asset under management at the end of 2007, in comparison to the €282.4bn at the end of September last year.

A spokesman explained the drop is in part as a result of market losses since September last year though he added asset under management on a year-on-year basis were up €44bn.

He also said the financials group managed to plug the asset hole it experienced in the third quarter, when it saw a net asset losses of 4.4% compared with gains in the fourth quarter of 0.2%.

"Net asset inflows were slightly negative in the third quarter at -€2.6bn and then became positive again in the fourth quarter with €1.7bn. These achievements were far better than the asset management's market average, which recorded significant net asset outflows for the second half of the year," read a statement.

The company said revenues from the wealth and asset management business unit were up 24.1% compared to 2006, at €2.76bn, while assets under management grew 10.7% year-on-year for the asset management division.

Asset management booked a pre-tax income of €428m in the last quarter of 2007, versus the €410m in the same quarter in 2006.

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