BNP PARIBAS, France’s biggest listed bank, sounded an upbeat note yesterday, at odds with the tone of many European rivals, and said the euro zone debt crisis appeared to be stabilising.

Chief executive Jean-Laurent Bonnafe said the outlook had been boosted by an injection of cheap cash by the European Central Bank, part of measures to ease the crisis in the union, and he believed Europe would escape recession, a sentiment supported by figures from leading European economies.

The bank gave no official targets, but told analysts that business trends would be much better this year than in the second half of 2011.

BNP shares rose as much as 7 per cent during the day, buoyed by the bank’s early delivery on tougher capital targets and by fourth-quarter results that were not as weak as expected.

“I’m reassured on capital ratios, I’m comforted by the fact that they are managing the asset sales well,” said Marco Bruzzo, head of Mirabaud Gestion AM.

BNP also said it would pay a 2011 dividend, albeit reduced to €1.20 from €2.10 a year ago. – (Reuters)