Societe Generale launches 1.5 billion euro buyback after profit beat estimates

[PARIS] Societe Generale has launched a 1.5 billion euro (S$2.3 billion) buyback programme after posting profit for the fourth quarter that beat estimates.

Its net income in the quarter jumped 36 per cent to 1.4 billion euros, aided by lower-than-expected costs and better performance in French retail banking. The bank’s equity and fixed-income traders had a weaker quarter, both missing estimates.

The buyback, on 2025 profits, accompanies two extraordinary share repurchase programmes worth one billion euros each, announced in the course of last year. 

Chief executive officer Slawomir Krupa, reinforcing his pledge to focus on investor payouts, said: “We have significantly increased the return to our shareholders ... we will accelerate in 2026.”

He added that the bank is aiming for an upgraded return-on-tangible-equity target of more than 10 per cent. 

Krupa, who has been in the role since May 2023, has pivoted away from a focus on capital preservation at the start of his tenure, to a renewed emphasis on growth.

Yet, the Paris-based lender is still focused on trimming expenses, after already cutting hundreds of jobs and selling assets since he took over. This includes private banking businesses in the UK and Switzerland.

In January, the bank announced its plans to eliminate 1,800 positions in France by the end of next year. 

Its revenue from trading fixed income and currencies fell 13 per cent from a year before, while equities trading saw a drop of 5.3 per cent, with a decline in activity in Europe and Asia offsetting revenue growth in the Americas.

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Cross-town rival BNP Paribas posted a 5 per cent gain in equities trading on Thursday (Feb 5). For both, the recent decline in the US dollar will have affected the trading revenue reported in euros.

The biggest Wall Street banks reported combined increases of 4 per cent in fixed income and 21 per cent in stock trading, said Bloomberg Intelligence. 

Societe Generale outperformed its main European rivals last year, with its shares rising about 150 per cent. The lender’s share price in Paris is up 8 per cent since the beginning of this year.

This February, there will be a drop in the interest rates for the hugely popular regulated savings accounts in France. It may also help to lower the funding costs for the bank and its French peers this year. BLOOMBERG