The new director of Societe Generale, the Franco-Polish Slawomir Krupa, on May 12, 2023 in Paris (AFP/Archives/JOEL SAGET)
End of an era at Societe Generale: the general manager of the bank Frédéric Oudéa hands over Tuesday to Slawomir Krupa, officially appointed general manager in the evening, after fifteen years of turbulence.
“It is obviously a very important moment for me”, declared Tuesday in Paris Mr. Oudéa in front of the shareholders of the group, after “fifteen years of a rare intensity” and “many large-scale crises”, of the Kerviel affair in 2008 to the war in Ukraine in 2022.
Chairman of the board Lorenzo Bini Smaghi praised the incumbent, a “captain for troubled waters” showing “incomparable resilience in the face of multiple financial and banking crises”.
Slawomir Krupa, elected by almost 99% director by the shareholders of the bank on Tuesday, was appointed managing director in the process, as committed to by the board of directors on September 30th.
His fixed compensation of 1.65 million euros per year will be 27% higher than that of his predecessor. It could more than double thanks to a variable portion subject to financial, strategic, societal and environmental criteria.
The new leader has on his desk several projects initiated in recent years by Mr. Oudéa, such as the merger of the two retail banking networks in France under the same red and black banner, SG, or the integration of the company Leaseplan by the automotive leasing subsidiary ALD, whose acquisition was finalized on Monday.
“It will be up to him, with the new general management, to pursue these initiatives and further transform the group for the greater benefit of its shareholders, its customers and all of its teams”, commented the chairman of the board of directors. , Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, quoted in the press release announcing the appointment.
– Pampered shareholders –
Particular emphasis was also placed during the general meeting on the group’s online bank, Boursorama, profitable in the first quarter of 2023 and which faces growing ambitions from competitors such as the British Revolut.
“It’s a real bank with a balance sheet of 65 billion euros” and 5 million customers, underlined Mr. Oudéa, who highlighted “still considerable potential for profitable growth”.
Societe Generale shareholders also voted on Tuesday in favor of a payment for the 2022 financial year of a cash dividend of 1.70 euros per share, accompanied by a share buyback program of approximately 440 millions of euros.
This distribution plan is particularly generous for shareholders. Totaling 1.8 billion euros, it is therefore equivalent to 90% of the net profit published by the company for last year, reduced by the disaster exit from Russia.
The stock market price is one of the main projects for the new management team. “It’s true, the title remains discounted and subject to some volatility,” admitted the outgoing CEO. “It’s a frustration for me as for you,” he continued, addressing the shareholders.
– “All skills” –
Questioned during the moment reserved for questions and answers on the role deemed insufficient by the bank in supporting the environmental transition, Slawomir Krupa referred to his strategic presentation to the market, scheduled for the start of the school year, for possible concrete announcements.
“It’s a complicated subject (…), if we had a simple solution we would have applied it”, he however replied.
“Have we finished? Have we done everything? Have we been the best in the world in this transition? Probably not, but we did it in a very serious way, very sincere with this concern for responsibility that comes from the word same transition,” he continued.
The departure of Frédéric Oudéa, one of the oldest bank bosses in Europe, who arrived in this position in 2008 after the outbreak of the Kerviel affair, surprised when he announced it a year ago.
Chosen last September to succeed him, Mr. Krupa joined Societe Generale in 1996, first in general inspection, then in several management positions, particularly in financing and investment.
This Franco-Polish, described as direct, even a little “eruptive” according to a former senior executive of the bank, “has all the skills to lead our house”, underlined Mr. Oudéa.
© 2023 AFP
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