SocGen Cuts 2020 Targets as 4Q Net Profit Beats Expectations -- Update

Adds revised targets

--Societe Generale cut its 2020 RoTE target

--The French bank's fourth-quarter net profit rose sharply from a year earlier

--SocGen's results were hit by one-offs, but still beat analysts' expectations

By Pietro Lombardi

Societe Generale SA's (GLE.FR) cut its 2020 RoTE target as 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 it now targets a RoTE of between 9% and 10% in 2020, down from a previous estimate of 11.5% in its plan.

SocGen said net profit for the period was 624 million euros ($710.4 million) compared with EUR69 million in the same period last 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.

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. Revenue from the global markets and investors services divisions declined 19%, with fixed-income, currencies and commodities revenue down 29% from the same period last year. Equity revenue fell 16% on year.

The bank warned in January that its results for the final quarter of last year would be affected by disposals and a challenging environment in global capital markets. It had forecast a roughly 20% decline on year in global markets and investor services revenues 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 [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 07, 2019 01:31 ET (06:31 GMT)

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