2023-09-18 09:11:56
By Le Figaro with AFP
Published 3 hours ago, Updated 12 minutes ago
Banks are very often singled out by NGOs for their participation, through the financing of large groups and new oil projects, in climate change. GONZALO FUENTES / REUTERS
Until now, the group’s ambitions have consisted of a 20% reduction in terms of outstanding exposure to the oil production sector by 2025 compared to 2019.
Société Générale wants to reduce its exposure to the oil and gas production sector by 50% compared to 2019 by 2025, compared to 20% previously. “We will accelerate the decarbonization of our activities» and play “a leading role in the energy, environmental and social transition“said new general manager Slawomir Krupa in a statement. Around 10:10 a.m., Société Générale shares fell 6.46% to 24.76 euros on the Paris Stock Exchange, in a market down 0.62%.
The document also specifies a 2030 objective of -80%, still compared to 2019, as well as the cessation of the offer of financial products and services dedicated to projects for new oil and gas production fields on January 1, 2024. Regularly singled out by NGOs for financing large groups and new oil and gas projects, banks are taking turns updating their climate policy. This was the case, for example, of BNP Paribas on May 11.
Société Générale also shared financial objectives for investors with whom Slawomir Krupa made an appointment, at 8 a.m. GMT, in the bank’s London premises, in order to rekindle their interest in a “Socgen» in search of a new lease of life. The group is targeting fairly low annual revenue growth, between 0% and 2% on average between 2022 and 2026, a distribution rate of between 40% and 50% of published net profit – for comparison, it was 90% for last year – as well as an annualized rate of return on equity (ROTE) of between 9% and 10% in 2026. This last indicator has varied greatly over recent years, going from 11.7 % in 2021 to 2.9% last year. During the first half of the year, it rose to 5.6%.
Focus on online banking
Four months after taking the reins of the banking group, Slawomir Krupa made this morning of presentation and discussion – an hour and a half is reserved for questions from the floor – his first public highlight. During its grand oral, the market does not expect a very sharp strategic shift but rather a readable roadmap allowing the “Socgen» to refocus on your strengths.
Among them the automobile leasing subsidiary ALD, which doubled in size last year with the acquisition of Leaseplan, or the online bank Boursorama, now profitable. The group also announced on Monday a new objective of 8 million customers for its online bank, compared to 5 million currently, in 2026, as well as results described as “substantial with a positive net result exceeding 300 million euros” to this date. The number of retail banking customers in France, 9 million, is expected to remain stable.
This morning could also be an opportunity for Slawomir Krupa to list the activities deemed to be less priority for the bank and from which it could separate in the short or medium term. Several media outlets have mentioned, without an official source, strategic reflections on the professions of securities custody or even financing of equipment for companies. The housekeeping has already begun in retail banks abroad: Société Générale announced at the beginning of June sales agreements in several African countries (Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Mauritania, Chad), a continent on which the group is historically very established.
London time
The choice of London as an echo chamber for the strategy of a French bank, listed in Paris, may be surprising, especially since the “Socgen» has in recent years rather reduced the sail in the British capital. However, it fits into the very international profile of the Franco-Polish Slawomir Krupa, who imposed English as the working language on the management committee, and his desire to speak to investors.
The stock price project is major for the bank. Its valuation is stagnating around 20 billion euros, three times less than its long-time competitor BNP Paribas, with whom it could still be compared at the start of the Frédéric Oudéa era, general manager since the outbreak of the Kerviel affair. in 2008.
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