Paris  - French bank BNP Paribas reported Thursday it made profits of 1.3 billion euros (1.93 billion dollars) in the third quarter of this year, up 44.8 per cent over the same period last year.

Turnover for the quarter totalled 10.663 billion, 40 per cent better than for the third quarter of 2008, the bank said in a press statement.

As a result, BNP Paribas generated 2.326 billion euros in operating income, "more than twice the amount of the third quarter 2008, which was marked by the failure of Lehman Brothers," the bank said.

The positive result is the second confirmation in two days that the French banking sector is emerging from the financial crisis in good health.

On Wednesday, Societe-Generale said it had earned profits of 426 million euros in the third quarter of this year, more than double what the bank earned last year.(dpa)