French bank Credit Lyonnais, which is still considering a sale of its 54 per cent stake in Woodchester Investments, has reported a sharp rise in net profit for the first half of the year to 601 million francs (£74.19 million) against just 67 million francs for the same half last year. The pre-tax profits surged by 45.1 per cent to 3.07 billion francs, while turnover was up 8.9 per cent from the same period a year earlier to 23.4 billion francs, and the gross operating result by 37.2 percent to 5.7 billion.

The government-owned bank, which was rescued from collapse last year, said the sharp increase of the current pre-tax result was due to better control of risks and costs, particularly in the commercial banking business in France. - (AFP)