Societe Generale Equipment Finance (SGEF) results for the first half 2018 showed 8% year-on-year growth in leases and loans outstanding, which hit €17.8bn (£15.7bn).
Equipment leasing net income was up 31% to €1.6bn.
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Growth in SGEF was accompanied by expansion of business in fleet and private lease division ALD Automotive, which saw a 10% year-on-year increase in its vehicle base, to €1.59m.
At the wider level of financial services to corporates, the bank reported €905m in revenues, in line with H1 2017, next to a 5.6% fall in operating income to €403m, due to higher operating expenses.
In preparation for the introduction of IFRS 16, the updated international accounting standard, the bank has had a dedicated team in place since early 2017, building a lease contract database and developing an in-house calculation tool for adding new data.
SocGen said that at the moment, “the quantified impacts of [IFRS 16’s] application on the group’s financial statements cannot be reasonably estimated”.
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By GlobalDataThe bank also confirmed it was selling off its subsidiaries in Bulgaria and Albania, which handle SGEF’s activities in those countries, to Hungary’s OTP Bank. Details of the sale had already emerged yesterday, and the deal’s value remains undisclosed.
The sale forms part of a wider geographical refocusing by SocGen, which saw it hand private banking operations in Belgium to ABN Amro and acquire the equity and commodity markets operation of Germany’s Commerzbank.
Frederic Oueda, chief executive officer of SocGen, said: “Societe Generale posted good results and an increase in profitability in Q2 18 due to a solid performance by all the businesses, disciplined cost management and good risk control.
“The group also carried out several strategic transactions contributing to the refocusing of its business model around its core franchises.”
Earlier this year, reports surfaced of a possible UniCredit-SocGen merger, which would give the Italian bank a stronger balance sheet position and the French lender a bigger reach in eastern Europe.
