Shares in French bank BNP Paribas fell on Wednesday on rumours over a possible capital increase and uncertainty over its acquisition of the Belgian operations of finance group Fortis.

Shares in BNP Paribas closed down 11.2 percent at 36.245 euros, taking losses so far this week to more than 22 percent.

After the close, the company said that no capital increase was under consideration apart from those envisaged as part of its acquisition of parts of Fortis, the former Dutch-Belgian banking group.

BNP Paribas said its current capital levels `fully satisfied` regulatory requirements.

`Accordingly, the only capital increases planned by BNP Paribas are those to fund the acquisition of Fortis Bank and which will be subscribed by the Belgian and Luxembourg governments,` it said in a statement.

Shares in BNP, France`s leading bank, have lost nearly a third of their value in the last two weeks and are trading at levels not seen for five-and-a-half years.

The bank reported earlier that its third-quarter net profit plunged 55 percent to 901 million euros (1.16 billion dollars) as it covered losses sustained in the global credit crunch.