France's biggest listed bank, BNP Paribas , posted higher-than-forecast first-quarter revenue and earnings on Wednesday, driven by strong retail growth and resilient investment banking.

Quarterly net income rose 14.6 percent to 2.62 billion euros ($3.9 billion), beating the average estimate of 2.25 billion in a Reuters poll of 12 analysts.

Revenue grew by 1.3 percent to 11.69 billion euros, also higher than expected. Retail banking was buoyed by loan growth across Western Europe and appetite for mortgages in France.

Provisions against loan losses tumbled by almost a third across the group, helping BNP's corporate and investment bank offset a drop in capital markets revenue.

($1=.6726 Euro)

(Reporting by Lionel Laurent; Editing by James Regan)

BNP Paribas