PARIS: Top French bank Societe Generale said Monday the Covid-19 crisis pushed it into a second quarter loss of more than a billion euros as it was forced to increase loss provisions sharply.
The net loss of 1.26 billion euros ($1.48 billion) for the three months to June compared with a profit of more than a billion euros in the same period a year earlier and follows a loss of 326 million euros in the first quarter.
"This quarter has been sharply impacted by the Covid-19 global health crisis and its economic repercussions," Societe Generale said in a statement. Net banking income - a bank's core measure of profitability - tumbled 13.5 percent, with all business areas affected except for private banking, asset management and financial and consultation services. Given the uncertain outlook, the bank said it had put aside 653 million euros to cover losses during the three months.
Its French peer BNP Paribas bucked the trend, managing to report Friday only a slightly lower second quarter net profit of 2.3 billion euros thanks to a surge in investment banking.
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