PARIS (Reuters) -French lender Societe Generale on Thursday reported a near quadrupling of fourth-quarter profit on lower pandemic-related charges and a rebound in retail banking and equity trading.
France’s third-largest listed bank, after BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole SA, also said it expected to improve profitability in the coming years.
SocGen said it expected underlying cost to income ratio – a key measure of banks’ profitability – to be between 66% and 68% this year, from 67% in 2021 and 74.6% in 2020.
Beyond 2022, the ratio will decline year after year, the bank said.
“The group is entering 2022 with confidence”, SocGen Chief Executive Officer Frederic Oudea said in a statement.
The bank’s quarterly net income jumped to 1.79 billion euros ($2.05 billion) from 470 million euros a year ago, with a cost of risk, reflecting provisions against bad loans, down by 87.5%.
($1 = 0.8752 euros)
(Reporting by Matthieu Protard; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Shailesh Kuber)
