Francois Hollande to beat Nicolas Sarkozy in 2012 election: Poll

Socialist Francois Hollande is on course to beat President Nicolas Sarkozy by a comfortable margin in the final round of a presidential election in France next year, despite losing some ground, a poll showed on Tuesday.

The survey by Ipsos Logica Business Consulting showed Hollande, the candidate most likely to face off against Sarkozy, would take 60% of votes in the last round of a two-stage election due to start next April.

Hollande has lost two percentage points and Sarkozy had gained the same amount since it carried out a similar poll on voting intentions in October.

Sarkozy has enjoyed a lift in his poll scores in the past few months thanks largely to his high-profile role in the euro zone debt crisis.

In the first round of the election, Hollande is seen taking 32% of the vote -- down three percent since October -- versus 25.5% -- up 1.5% -- for Sarkozy. In the final round Hollande stands to reap most backing from Francois Bayrou, a centrist candidate poised to take 7% of votes in the first round.

Sarkozy would receive most backing from supporters of Marine Le Pen, a far-right leader seen taking 17 % of the first-round vote.

The poll was conducted on Dec. 2 and 3 with a sample of 955 people aged 18 and over.