GLE Societe Generale SA

   By Pietro Lombardi 
 

Societe Generale SA's (GLE.FR) fourth-quarter net profit rose sharply from a year earlier, when results were hit by one-offs, and beat analysts' expectations.

The French bank said Thursday that net profit for the period was 624 million euros ($709.1 million), compared with EUR69 million in the same period the previous year, when one-offs, including charges related to tax reforms in France and the U.S., weighed on the results.

Net banking income, SocGen's top line, fell 6.3% on year to EUR5.93 billion ($6.74 billion).

Analysts had expected a net profit of EUR450.3 million on net banking income of EUR5.94 billion, a consensus forecast provided by FactSet showed.

Net profit for the year grew 38% to EUR3.86 billion.

Revenue for the quarter fell 6.9% on year at the bank's global banking and investor-solutions business, which includes investment banking and asset management. Global markets and investor services revenue declined 19%, with fixed-income, currencies and commodities revenue down 29% from the same period a year earlier. Equity revenue fell 16% on year.

In January, the bank warned that its results for the final quarter of last year would be affected by the effects of disposals and "a challenging environment in global capital markets." It had forecast a roughly 20% decline on year in global markets and investor services revenue for the quarter and announced a dividend of EUR2.20 a share for 2018, stable from the previous year, offering the option of a payment in shares.

Write to Pietro Lombardi at pietro.lombardi@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 07, 2019 01:15 ET (06:15 GMT)

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