Calyon, the corporate and investment banking arm of France's Crédit Agricole, failed to grow net profits in the second quarter as a drop-off in financing activities and surging costs dragged down a strong performance in equities.

Net profits were down 0.6% at €459m ($630m) compared with the second quarter of 2006 as costs grew at almost twice the rate of net revenues. Operating expenses rose 11% to €957m while revenues increased 6% to €1.6bn.