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SocGen tops 1Q forecasts
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May 18, 2000: 5:45 a.m. ET
French bank rides economic revival, boosting trading, profit margins
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LONDON (CNNfn) - French bank Société Générale on Thursday reported first-quarter earnings rose a bigger-than-expected 53 percent, boosted by bullish equity markets and an improving French economy.
France's second largest bank earned net profit of  883 million ($791.9 million), or 2.20 per share, up from 576 million, or 1.40 a share, a year earlier. Analysts expected the company to earn between 716 million and 850 million, according to a Reuters poll.
"The very sharp increase in net income does not simply reflect the positive effects of a robust economic environment but instead is due first and foremost to the improvement in the core profitability of all our business lines," Daniel Bouton, chairman and chief executive officer of Société Générale, said. 
Société Générale said stock trading orders more than tripled in the first quarter 2000 from a year earlier, powering a 49 percent increase in income at its retail banking division to 259 million. The investment banking unit saw a 66 percent jump in earnings to 439 million and its equity and advisory unit tallied a three-fold jump in net to 308 million.
Annualized return on equity improved to 28.7 percent in the first quarter, from 22.6 percent in the same quarter of 1999. Return on equity is a measure of profitability that expresses annual earnings as a percentage of shareholders' equity.
Separately, fellow French bank Crédit Commercial de France on Thursday posted a 21 percent increase in first-quarter net to 173.3 million, up from 143.9 million in the same quarter of 1999. That also topped most forecasts, which were for around 160 million.
In mid-morning trade in Paris, shares of Société Générale (PGLE) fell 0.1 percent to 62.70. CCF (PCCF), which said Thursday it expects to complete its $10.6 billion merger with London-based HSBC (HSBA) by July, slipped 0.5 percent to 153.90. 
-- from staff and wire reports
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Société Générale
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