Business

Wednesday November 4, 2009

Societe Generale said wed Q3 profit more than doubles


PARIS: Societe Generale SA, France's second-largest bank, said Wednesday that net profit more than doubled in the third quarter after better market conditions helped earnings at its investment banking unit.

SocGen said in a statement that it made a net profit of euro426 million ($627 million) in the July to September period, compared with euro183 million a year earlier.

The results were slightly lower than the consensus forecast.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters had predicted a net profit of euro457 million.

The Paris-based bank said that markets roiled by the collapse of Lehman Brothers last year had normalized further during the quarter.

SocGen recorded net profit of euro133 million at its corporate and investment bank in the quarter, compared with a net loss of euro240 million a year earlier.

The results helped offset a decline in profit at its core French retail banking business.

The unit reported a 14 percent drop in net profit to euro287 million in the period.

In October, SocGen completed a euro4.8 billion capital increase in order to pay back a total of euro3.4 billion in government bailout funds.

The rest of the money will strengthen SocGen's capital position and fund the acquisition of Franco-Belgan lender Dexia SA.

The bank's Tier One ratio, seen as a key measure of a bank's financial health, rose to 10.4 percent in the quarter from 8.5 percent a year earlier.

"The success of the capital increase puts Societe Generale in a strong position for the emergence from the crisis," the bank said.

Societe Generale's big domestic rival, BNP Paribas, reports its third quarter results on Thursday. - AP


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