Société Générale, the French bank hit by the world's worst rogue trader scandal, reported a 23.4% fall in first quarter net profit although earnings came in above the average market forecast.
Net profit fell to €1.096 billion, mainly due to a 79% fall in net profit at its corporate and investment banking division and a loss at SocGen's global investment management unit. Gross operating profit fell 24% to €1.774 billion.
Profits were boosted by a €602m capital gain related to the creation of Newedge, the new broker set up in partnership with French bank Credit Agricole.
On January 24, SocGen announced €4.9 billion of losses which it said were caused by rogue deals carried out by Jerome Kerviel, then a junior trader at the bank.
SocGen said it had made further writedowns of around €1.2 billion at its investment banking arm during the first quarter due to the global credit crisis.
The trading losses have renewed speculation that SocGen could be taken over, but the bank said the first quarter results showed its ability to overcome the setback from the trading scandal.
'In a difficult environment and despite a number of non-recurring items related to the crisis booked during the quarter, SocGen confirmed its ability to bounce back and generally produced good commercial performances in the first quarter,' it said in a statement.
The global credit crunch has so far led to a mixed set of first quarter results from the world's top banks. Last month, Credit Suisse, UBS and Deutsche Bank posted first quarter losses while this week HSBC reported higher first quarter profits.
Kerviel remains under formal investigation for breach of trust, computer abuse and falsification although he was freed from prison in March after an appeal against his detention.
