Société Générale closes the third quarter with earnings down 30,6% year over year (from 896 to 622 million), due to expenses which include the write-downs of the Greek securities in the portfolio. The Bank has also set aside the dividend for 2011. "We are giving priority to strengthening the group's capital," said the institute's CEO Frédéric Oudéa, underlining that there will be a significant reduction in the bonuses granted to employees of the corporate and investment division.
The French Bank has announced that it has rout of 10 billion euros in toxic assets between July and November. At the end of October, these bonds amounted to 18,6 billion euros. Between September and October, the value of government bonds of peripheral Eurozone countries in the Bank's portfolio fell from 3,65 to 3,43 billion euro.
However, exposure to Italian bonds increased, going from 1,55 to 1,57 billion euro, while exposure to Greek bonds reduced its value by 60%.
