Revenues for BNP Paribas Securities Services reached €440m in the first quarter of 2016.

The French bank said figure only rose slightly, up 0.3% compared with the first quarter of 2015, due to a 2.7% decline in assets under custody caused by 'decreasing markets'.

Even so the division, which provides custody and other asset services to institutional investors, reported a 16.1% rise in the number of transactions.

Notable mandates for the securities services unit over the period included a custody deal with Finnish insurance firm Sampo Group.

Overall, the wider bank's total revenue came in at €10.8bn between January and March, down by 2% compared to the first quarter 2015.

Net income beat estimates at €1,8bn, up by 10.1%.

Lower provisions against bad retail loans helped BNP Paribas offset sharply lower investment banking revenue.

At €1,3bn, revenue for the French lender's Global Markets division slumped by 24.4% compared to the first quarter 2015.

The bank blamed a “wait-and-see attitude” by investors during the first two months of the year, caused by concerns over global growth and on banking regulations combined with uncertainties over monetary policies.

"Thanks to the diversity of its geographies and of its business units, all focused on serving clients, BNP Paribas reported this quarter good revenues resilience despite a particularly unfavourable environment," said Jean-Laurent Bonnafé, the bank's chief executive.