Societe Generale 3Q Net Profit Falls 15%

Societe Generale SA (GLE.FR) said Friday that its third-quarter profit fell significantly, hit by low interest rates, a low-volatility environment and litigation provisions.

The French lender, the country's third-largest listed bank by assets, said that net profit decreased 15% to 932 million euros ($1.09 billion), compared with the same period last year.

Revenue stood at EUR5.96 billion, down from EUR6.01 billion a year earlier.

Societe Generale said it booked a EUR300 million provision for litigation, which takes the bank's overall provision for disputes to EUR2.2 billion.

Earlier this year, Societe Generale agreed to pay EUR963 million to settle claims that it allegedly paid a middleman bribes to secure business from Libya's sovereign-wealth fund during the final years of Moammar Gadhafi's rule.

Net profit at Societe Generale's banking and investor-solution business--which includes investment banking, security services and asset management--decreased 33% to EUR316 million.

Its international retail banking and financial services division posted a 9.4% increase in net profit to EUR500 million, while the French retail bank division's net profit fell 12% to EUR310 million.

The bank's core tier 1 ratio, a key measure of capital strength, was stable at 11.7%.

Write to Pietro Lombardi at pietro.lombardi@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 03, 2017 02:30 ET (06:30 GMT)