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(AFP / ERIC PIERMONT)
Private banking in Switzerland and the United Kingdom, retail banking in Madagascar: Société Générale announced on Monday three new disposals of subsidiaries as part of the refocusing of its activities led by the new boss Slawomir Krupa.
In private banking, the two subsidiaries concerned – Société Générale Private Banking Suisse and SG Kleinwort Hambros in the United Kingdom and the Channel Islands – manage a portfolio of activities amounting to nearly 25 billion euros, the French banking group indicated in a press release.
“These disposal projects are part of the execution of Société Générale’s strategic roadmap,” the latter indicated.
The identified buyer is Union Bancaire Privée, UBP SA (UBP), a Swiss bank specializing in wealth and asset management, for a total price of approximately 900 million euros.
The sale of these subsidiaries comes a few weeks after similar announcements concerning the neobank for the self-employed and small businesses Shine, and the capital goods financing activities for businesses, grouped together in SGEF.
The Danish group Ageras is in the running to take over Shine, the French BPCE (bringing together notably the Banques Populaires and the Caisses d’Epargne) has positioned itself on SGEF.
Market rumors have been surrounding other branches for several quarters, such as the subsidiary dedicated to the custody of securities, Securities Services (SGSS), bringing together a set of specialized financial services.
– Disengagement in Africa –
Geographically, it is in Africa where Société Générale’s slimming down is most visible.
The bank with the red and black logo has already sold its retail banking subsidiary in Congo (in December 2023 to the State) and in Chad (in January 2024 to the Coris group).
It is engaged in similar processes in Benin, Togo, Morocco, Equatorial Guinea, Burkina Faso, Mozambique and Mauritania.
Madagascar is therefore added to this long list on Monday. It is one of the Banque Populaire’s branches, Bred, which has expressed its interest in taking over this activity. Based in the Ile-de-France region and active in Mayotte and Reunion, Bred would, thanks to this acquisition, the amount of which has not been specified, make a leap forward in the region.
Strategic discussions, often the first steps towards disposals, are also underway for retail banking subsidiaries in Tunisia and Ghana.
In just one year, Société Générale has liquidated an often historical legacy: for example, the bank had been present in Morocco for over a century.
Post the current disposals, Société Générale would only be active in retail banking in five countries: Algeria, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Cameroon and Guinea Conakry, out of 17 at the beginning of last year.
The banking group is adapting its central functions accordingly, with the announced elimination of 947 positions at its Paris headquarters at the start of the year.
The cure is also drastic in France, where Société Générale is reducing its sails by 3,700 positions and several hundred branches as part of the merger of its two retail networks under the SG banner. The bulk of this “effort” is taking place this year.
– No help on the stock market –
These announcements, synonymous with fresh money and the execution of the strategic plan announced for the bank, did not prevent the bank with the red and black logo from suffering on the stock market on Monday.
The stock lost 3.57% at around 10:50 a.m., to 19.80 euros, more than its French competitors BNP Paribas and Crédit Agricole SA.
It is trading below the 20 euro mark, a floor never yet broken under the Slawomir Krupa era since he took over from Frédéric Oudéa at the head of the group in May 2023.
The latter’s mandate is to raise the bank’s stock price.
Société Générale has been suffering a series of stock market setbacks since the publication of its second-quarter results on Thursday, which were higher than analysts’ expectations but marred by a downward revision of a financial target.
The stock has lost nearly 20% since Wednesday’s close.
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