Crédit Agricole chief executive Jean-Paul Chifflet said he saw signs of a turnaround in Italy, where it owns a local lender, as the French bank swung back to profit in the fourth quarter.

The Paris-based bank, France's second largest by assets, said Wednesday net profit rose to €612 million in the three months ended December, just below analyst expectations of €668 million. A year ago, Crédit Agricole had reported a record fourth-quarter loss of €3.98 billion, hurt by a write-down on its Italian unit and the sale of its Greek bank.