Thursday’s results showed France’s third-largest listed bank had a full-year net profit of 2.49 billion euros, slightly above the 2.15 billion euros expected by analysts.
However, net banking income for the quarter fell 9.9% year-on-year to €5.96 billion, which the bank attributed mainly to lower net interest income in its French retail and private banking and insurance divisions, as well as an unwinding of net interest income. This is attributed to the negative impact of hedge.
SocGen has announced that it will propose a cash dividend of 90 cents per share to shareholders and initiate a share buyback of 280 million euros, equivalent to 35 cents per share.
Other key figures reported by the bank include a CET1 ratio of 13.1% at year-end, a reported return on tangible equity of 1.7% in the fourth quarter, and a cost-to-income ratio of 78.3%.
Group CEO Swałomir Krupa said 2023 was a “year of transition and transformation” for the bank, which is targeting revenue growth of more than 5% in 2024.
“Boursobank’s extraordinary momentum, the strength of our global banking and Investor Solutions franchises, the track record of our international banking activities across all regions, and the ability of the new bank in France and Iven to implement unprecedented transformation are All of this is strong evidence of the ability to perform at a high level,” Krupa said in a statement.
“At the same time, 2023 was negatively impacted by a sharp decline in net interest income in French retail banking and higher integration costs for leasing plans, but was characterized by disciplined management of costs, risks and capital. did.”
Online and mobile banking subsidiary BoursoBank was a particular highlight for Soc Gen, posting a record quarter with 566,000 new customer acquisitions compared to the same period last year. With this, Brusobank’s total number of customers will reach 5.9 million by the end of 2023.
