Société Generale is France’s third largest listed bank.
(Photo: Reuters)
Frankfurt Crédit Agricole and Société Générale have put the corona crisis behind them. The two major French banks significantly increased their profits last year. They announced this on Thursday morning.
Société Generale posted a record profit of 5.6 billion euros. In the previous year, the bank had to accept a loss of 258 million euros – the first shortfall in decades. The year 2021 was a milestone for the group, said CEO Frederic Oudea. They would have achieved the best financial result in their history. We are also confident for 2022.
The main reason for the jump in profits is higher income and lower risk provisions for impaired loans. Compared to the previous year, income increased by 16.7 percent to around 25.8 billion euros, risk provisions fell by almost 80 percent to 700 million euros.
The bank also benefited from the significant recovery in the share business. Compared to the previous year, revenue in this area increased by 147 percent to 3.15 billion euros.
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Half of the annual profit adjusted for special effects should now go to the shareholders. In addition, Société Générale is planning a dividend of EUR 1.65 per share and wants to buy back its own shares for EUR 915 million.
Crédit Agricole can more than double profit
Crédit Agricole also clearly exceeded its profit target. The institute was able to more than double its profit compared to the previous year to around 5.8 billion euros.
Crédit Agricole also benefited from a provision for loan defaults that fell by almost 40 percent to around EUR 1.5 billion. Revenues increased 9.1 percent year-on-year to approximately 22.6 billion euros.
Due to the better than expected result, CEO Philippe Brassac announced that he would publish a new plan for the years up to 2025 in June. The shareholders are to participate in the improved profitability with a dividend of EUR 1.05 per share. This includes 0.20 euros that could not be paid for 2019.
The results of the two major French banks in 2021 are well received on the markets: Société Générale shares rose by almost five percent in Paris in the morning, and Crédit Agricole shares also rose by 1.6 percent. Crédit Agricole is France’s second largest listed bank after BNP Paribas and ahead of Société Générale.
With agency material.
more on the subject: BNP Paribas achieves record profit of almost ten billion euros in 2021.