Paris (awp / afp) – Societe Generale announced Thursday a net profit from January to March up slightly, at the end of a first quarter heckled by the outbreak of the war in Ukraine by Russia where the bank officiates, but of which it will disengage.
The group’s result amounted to 842 million euros over the first three months of the year, an increase of 3.2% over one year, for net banking income (NBI), equivalent to turnover for the sector, 7.28 billion euros (+16.6%). “This first quarter confirms the solidity and resilience of our business model with a sustained performance of all of our businesses in a more uncertain environment”, greets the group’s general manager Frédéric Oudéa in a press release.
Retail banking in France, abroad, financial services to companies or even insurance: all businesses show growth in their NBI. The war in Ukraine, triggered by Russia on February 24, is however felt in the results of the French bank which still at the beginning of the year was by far the most present in Russia via its subsidiary Rosbank.
The cost of risk, for example, doubled “mainly due to the consequences of the crisis in Ukraine on Russian exposure, i.e. 561 million euros”, compared to 276 million euros in the first quarter of 2021, the press release specifies. The bank with the red and black logo announced on April 11, at the start of the second quarter, the end of its activities in the country through the sale of its entire stake in Rosbank to the investment fund Interros Capital, the previous shareholder.
The negative impact of the disposal of its retail banking subsidiary in the country, Rosbank, in the order of 3.1 billion euros, will only appear in the income statement when it is achieved, as expected “in the next few weeks” by Societe Generale.
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