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Cortal had 607,000 customers at 31 December 2000

Savings invested in mutual funds and in life insurance products: + 21 % in relation to 1999

Flows of market transactions: + 84 %



The number of Cortal's customers at 31 December 2000 came to 607,000 as compared with 473,000 one year earlier. This increase results from a doubling in the number of new customers in 2000 in relation to 1999 (+ 143,000 in 2000, as compared with + 70,000 in 1999).


The B2C and B2B activities each contributed half of the increase in the number of customers:

- the number of direct customers came to 393,000 at the end of 2000 as compared with 330,000 at the end of 1999. The number of direct customers recruited reached 25,000 during the fourth quarter of 2000 as compared with an average of 11,000 during the previous two quarters. Cortal's international penetration, with 33,000 customers, represented 8 % of its direct customers at the end of 2000.

- the number of customers managed on behalf of partners came to 214,000 at the end of 2000 as compared with 143,000 at the end of 1999. This B2B activity is enabling Cortal to broaden its channels of distribution and to diversity its sources of income. This activity was marked in 2000 by new agreements with Banque AGF, Banque Directe and Fortunéo. A new partnership with Fortis e-banking will also be operational in France in early 2001.


The savings invested in investment funds and in life insurance reached EUR 1.5 billion in 2000, up 21 % in relation to 1999. Savings invested through the 'Mutual Funds Supermarket', which gives access to more than 5,000 French and Luxembourg mutual funds, accounted for more than one-half of this total, at EUR 740 million (+ 46 % in relation to 1999).

At the same time, Cortal's activity in stock brokerage has increased :
- the flow of transactions reached EUR 10.1 billion in 2000, up 84 % over 1999;
- the number of orders executed on the markets rose to 2.4 million in 2000, up 67 % over 1999.

Taking account of the correction that has occurred since last spring on the equity market and of the disappearance in France of the monthly settlement market, two contrasted periods succeeded one another in 2000: the flow of stock market transactions rose to EUR 6.2 billion during the first half, up 171 % in relation to the first half of 1999, and to EUR 3.9 billion during the second half, up 22 % over the second half of 1999.

The goal, announced during the spring of 2000, of doubling the number of online accounts between the end of 1999 and the end of 2000 was passed: at the end of December 2000, the number of online accounts (Internet, Minitel, DigiTrade and kiosque Internet) came to 156,000 (including 18,000 on behalf of B2B partners).


The mission of Cortal is to help European individuals build and manage their savings. Customers are given access to services covering all mutual funds and principle stock markets. A subsidiary of BNP Paribas, Cortal counted 607,000 Clients in Europe at the end of December 2000, including 156,000 online accounts.