Jan. 8 (Bloomberg) -- BNP Paribas SA, France’s biggest lender, said it remained “comfortably profitable” in 2008 even after a 710 million-euro ($969 million) pretax loss in the first 11 months of the year at its corporate and investment bank.

The Paris-based company expects 2009 be a “complex” year, BNP Paribas Chairman Michel Pebereau and Chief Executive Officer Baudouin Prot wrote in an advertisement published in French daily newspaper Les Echos today. French lending had climbed 8 percent at end November from year-earlier levels, they said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Albertina Torsoli in Paris at atorsoli@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: January 8, 2009 01:51 EST