 Societe Generale earnings down 84%
(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-11-04 08:02
Societe Generale SA, France's third-largest bank, said profit fell 84 percent in the third quarter as credit-related writedowns caused losses at the investment-banking and asset-management units. Net income dropped to 183 million euros from 1.12 billion euros a year earlier, the Paris-based bank said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. The median estimate of 12 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was a profit of 581 million euros. Societe Generale recorded markdowns of about 1.4 billion euros in the quarter, including 447 million euros related to the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc and 453 million euros tied to US bond insurers. Chief Executive Officer Frederic Oudea decided not to use new accounting rules that are less stringent on markdowns, which helped Deutsche Bank AG show an unexpected third-quarter profit. "We've decided to be prudent," Oudea said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. "This profit isn't artificially enhanced by anticipated changes in accounting rules." Agencies
(China Daily 11/04/2008 page16) |
