Societe Generale posts annual loss on virus hit

PARIS: French banking giant Societe Generale slumped into a net loss in 2020 as the pandemic battered the global economy despite a recovery in the second half, it said Wednesday.

The group reported a net loss of 258 million euros ($313 million) for last year, compared to a profit of around 3.2 billion euros in 2019.

The coronavirus pandemic forced the bank to boost bad loan provisions and take various accounting charges.

Net banking income -- equivalent to turnover -- fell by 10 percent last year.

Over the first six months, SocGen recorded a net loss of around 1.6 billion euros but it reported a "significant improvement" in the second half, it said in a statement.

It posted a net profit of 862 million euros in the third quarter and 470 million euros in the fourth, although this was down almost 30 percent compared to a year earlier.

"The Q4 results provide further confirmation of the rebound in our businesses observed in Q3 after a beginning of the year marked by the impacts of the COVID crisis," CEO Frederic Oudea said in the statement.

In the second half, "we defined ambitious and value-creating strategic trajectories for our businesses, demonstrating our ability to adapt and transform in a durably more uncertain environment."

For 2021, the group said it would "maintain strict discipline... against the backdrop of an improvement in the economic outlook with a slight increase in costs."