The corporate and investment banking unit of BNP Paribas notched up a 19.2% increase in pre-tax profits in the first half of this year - despite the departure of nearly 900 staff in the fallout from its merger in 1999.

At the presentation of its first half results in Paris, BNP Paribas said that the group results, which showed a pro forma increase in pre-tax profits of 16.1% to €3.9bn, showed that the merger was bedding down. It said the investment banking business, which was most affected in terms of staff losses, had recovered strongly, and that all senior managers who had left the merged firm had since been replaced.