Natixis deputy CEO Moriani to leave in 2010

PARIS: French investment bank Natixis, the country's worst-performing bank stock over the last two years, said the executive who was running its core business would leave next year.

Natixis added, however, that the departure would not have any impact on the group and said it would be profitable in the fourth quarter of 2009 and over the whole of the second half of 2009.

Natixis said Deputy Chief Executive Jean-Marc Moriani, who was also in charge of its corporate and investment banking (CIB) arm, would leave over the next few weeks. Natixis added it would soon appoint a new head for its CIB division.

Last month, Natixis made its first quarterly profit in over a year as a rebound in financial markets helped it recover from a series of losses. Shares in Natixis, which is 72 per cent owned by French retail bank BPCE, closed at 3.27 euros on Friday to give the company a market capitalisation of around 9.5 billion euros ($13.67 billion).

The stock has risen around 161 per cent so far this year, after falling 86 per cent last year, but remains well below the 19.55 euro level at which it first listed on the Paris bourse in December 2006.