Top French banking group BNP Paribas reported Tuesday a third quarter net profit of 1.89 billion euros, down 2.3 percent from a year earlier despite the economic upheaval caused by the pandemic. After getting through the second quarter relatively unscathed, the bank said the three months to September saw a sharp rebound in the economy, although those gains may now be in jeopardy due to a resurgence in coronavirus cases and new restrictions. Third quarter net banking income -- a broad measure of profit -- came in at 10.89 billion euros, little changed from a year earlier and was up 2.1 percent on a constant exchange rate basis. The bank said it increased bad loan provisions by nearly 50 percent to 1.2 billion euros but this was still some 200 million euros less than in the second quarter. BNP's finance and investment arm saw revenues jump 17.4 percent but its international financial services unit -- which groups consumer credit, insurance and retail banking -- fell 7.2 percent. For the nine months to September, BNP Paribas said net profit was down 13.4 percent from a year earlier at 5.48 billion euros, in line with its forecast for a 15-20 percent drop in the full-year 2020. ktr/bt/ak/spi/bmm/bp