French banking group BNP Paribas reported a 21 per cent drop in its net profit in the first quarter of this year from a year ago as rough market conditions took their toll, although its private banking arm booked solid inflows. The bank said it made a net profit of €1.98 billion ($3.06 billion) in the quarter, while it recorded revenues of €7.395 billion, a 10 per cent drop from its record level in the first quarter of last year, the Paris-listed bank said in its results statement. On the private banking side, BNP Paribas said it logged £3.4 billion of inflows in the quarter out of total asset management and client services inflows of £5.7 billion. Assets under management at the French bank fell to £548 billion at the end of the quarter, a fall of 6.3 per cent from the end of last year. Wealth and asset management revenues fell by 6.7 per cent to €600 million, the bank said. For the group as a whole, revenues were €7.395 billion, a drop of 10 per cent on the same quarter a year before, which was a record figure, the bank said.