Société Générale announced significantly improved financial results for the 2024 financial year. With net banking income - similar to turnover - of €26.8bn, up 6.7% on 2023, the bank has exceeded its annual target, initially set at growth of at least 5%.

This momentum is attributable to "the rebound in the net interest margin in France and the performance of the retail banking and investor solutions businesses, which generated more than €10 billion in revenues", the bank stated in a press release on Thursday 6 February,

The group posted a net profit of €4.2bn, up 69% year-on-year, boosted in particular by a fourth quarter that exceeded analysts' expectations as compiled by Factset and Bloomberg. Between October and December, the bank generated net banking income of €6.6bn and net profit of more than €1bn.

On the strength of these results, the bank has decided to distribute €1.74bn to its shareholders (+75% on the previous year), by proposing a cash dividend of €1.09 per share and launching an €872m share buyback programme.

Société Générale is the third listed French bank to publish its results this week. Despite its good results, its net profi still lags behind BNP Paribas (€11.7bn) and Crédit Agricole (€8.6bn). "In 2025, we will continue to focus relentlessly on executing our strategy to further improve our performance in a sustainable way," stated CEO Slawomir Krupa.

Société Générale has been present in Luxembourg for more than 125 years and had a share capital of €1.39bn in 2023, according to the commercial register.

Read the original French-language version of this news report /