As of 18 July, the French bank which has a target of €25 billion (US$27.3 billion) for 2023 has raised €15.5 billion on the back of structured notes sales.

Société Générale (SG) has posted a decline in earnings for the second quarter of the year, with underlying revenues, at €6.5 billion, down 5.4% year-on-year (YoY). Underlying gross operating income fell 15% to around €2.06 billion, and net income dropped to €0.9 billion from €1.2 billion YoY.

Although the French banking giant had a robust 2022 with increasing revenues, group revenues contracted in Q2 23 ‘due to the decline in the net interest margin in France and in market activities’ revenues against a backdrop of gradual normalisation after some particularly favourable years,’ according to Slawomir Krupa (pictured), CEO of SG.

SG issued 1,272 non-flow structured products in Q2 23, globally – a decrease from 1,375 compared to the prior-year period, according to SRP’s data.

Products were distributed in 13 jurisdictions led by Switzerland (587 products), Taiwan (290), France (223), Germany (65) and Italy (61).

The bank also issued 139,752 turbo certificates in Germany in Q2 23, sliding 3.6% YoY.

In Asia Pacific, SG issued 857 callable bull/bear contracts (CBBCs) in Hong Kong SAR during the quarter, down from 1,020 in Q2 22. Derivative warrants (DW) issuance saw an increase, however, to 129 from 109 YoY. In Singapore, 28 structured certificates were issued during the quarter.

The group’s 2023 long-term funding program is set to raise €24 billion of vanilla debt and €25 billion from structured notes. As of 18 July, the vanilla debt has been achieved including €7.1 billion of pre-funding raised in 2022 while €15.5 billion worth of structured notes were booked. The average maturity of the funding stands at 4.9 years.

An additional €1.9 billion was issued by SG subsidiaries.

Business lines

SG reported that its global markets business collected €1.3 billion in revenue in Q2 23, down 11% compared to the prior-year quarter as a result of a ‘slower market’. For the first half of the year, revenues decreased by seven percent YoY to €3.06 billion. 

Equities revenues stood at €785m during the quarter, down 5.8% YoY as markets conditions were ‘less favourable due to lower volumes and weaker volatility’ despite ‘good level of activity overall with solid commercial trend in derivatives’.

Fixed income revenue felt by 18.4% to €557m YoY in Q2 23. The report noted lower client activity relative to a strong Q2 22, yet ‘continued strong dynamics in financing activities.’

As of 30 June, SG’s consolidated balance sheet included €151.3 billion worth of debt securities issued, compared with €133.2 billion six months ago. In the meantime, outstanding volume of hedging derivatives dropped slightly to €44.2 billion from €46.2 billion.

Meanwhile, SG made a flurry of key appointments during the quarter, including Hatem Mustapha who has been appointed as co-head of global markets activities and head of equities & equity derivatives and Demetrio Salorio taking over the role of new head of global banking and advisory in May. Regionally, Fouad Farah was promoted to head of global markets, Americas at SG in New York.

Click the links to read the SG’s Q2 2023 results, presentation, and consolidated financial statements.