PARIS - Societe Generale, France's third-biggest listed bank, posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings on Friday, as a resilient performance from its investment bank offset the steep downturn seen at its French retail division.
Both hits to SocGen's bottom line had been flagged at the bank's investor day in September. Group revenues dropped by 6.2% from a year earlier to about 6.2 billion euros, below the average of 6.3 billion expected by analysts. The current year, dubbed a year of "transition" by SocGen, is marked by the integration of car-leasing company LeasePlan by the bank's listed rival ALD, under the brand Ayvens. The bank has also finalised the merger of its two French retail networks.
In this context, the 0.4% drop in sales seen at SocGen's investment bank, compares well with some of its European peers. SocGen cut the full-year target for its cost of risk -- money set aside for bad loans -- to "below 20 basis points", down from a guidance of below 30 basis points. -- Japan’s state pension fund, the world’s largest, posted a loss of ¥683.2 billion on total assets during the three months through September as its holdings of domestic debt slumped by a record.