Aug. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Natixis SA shares had a record gain after the French bank maintained its profit forecast, denying speculation earnings may be hurt by the subprime-loan debacle in the U.S.

Shares of France's fourth-largest bank added 84 cents, or 6.1 percent, to 14.59 euros, giving the company a market value of 17.8 billion euros ($24.5 billion). UBS AG lifted its rating on Natixis shares to ``neutral'' from ``sell.''

Natixis shares tumbled to a record low on Aug. 3 after newspaper La Tribune reported that the bank owned 2.5 percent of Germany's IKB Deutsche Industriebank AG, the subject of a rescue plan to cover potential losses tied to the U.S. subprime market. Defaults on U.S. housing loans to borrowers with patchy credit histories have reached a 10-year high, driving down the value of bonds backed by mortgages.

For Natixis, ``the impact is very limited,'' said Jean Sassus, an analyst with Raymond James in Paris. ``The market frenzy sent the stock very low for reasons that are not material.''

The U.S. subprime market hit around 2 percent of Natixis's corporate and investment banking division's half-year net banking income, a decline offset by other businesses, the bank said in a statement today. Natixis repeated its forecast for 2007 net income of 2.15 billion euros.

Share Price

``Natixis's exposure to the U.S. subprime market -- which represented less than 1 percent of consolidated pro forma net banking income in 2006 -- has decreased significantly since the start of the year,'' it said in the statement.

The bank said it's asking the French market regulator, Autorite des Marches Financiers, to look into its share price drop on Aug. 3 because of ``unusual trading volumes.''

The company had subprime loans of about 1.5 billion euros, which it has reduced to zero through either repayment or sale of collateral, Natixis said.

Dusseldorf-based IKB replaced its chief executive officer on July 30 and said it will miss a full-year profit target. IKB, which hasn't disclosed its subprime-related investments, received backing from Germany's state-owned KfW Group and banking associations to cover as much as 3.5 billion euros of potential losses.

`Full Confidence'

Natixis said its relation with IKB is focused primarily on financing German mid-sized corporations. It said the current difficulties facing the German bank will have ``no impact or only a very limited impact on Natixis's income statement.''

Natixis was created in November from the merger of some units of Groupe Caisse d'Epargne and Groupe Banques Populaires.

The two main shareholders said today they plan to raise their stake in Natixis, adding that they have ``full confidence'' in the venture.

Banque Populaire and Caisse d'Epargne, which own 34.4 percent each of Natixis, plan to lift their stakes by the same proportion, the French lenders said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Fabio Benedetti-Valentini in Paris at fbenedettiva@bloomberg.net;

Last Updated: August 6, 2007 12:28 EDT