BNP Paribas, France's largest listed bank, has blamed "deteriorating" market conditions for a 42% fall in pre-tax profits in its advisory and capital markets division in the three months to September 30.

In the first nine months of the year, profits from advisory and capital markets were €888m ($1.14bn), down 26.7% from the €1.2bn it achieved in the same period of 2003. Third-quarter pre-tax profits were €249m, down from €316m in the second quarter and €429m in the third quarter of 2003.