Societe Generale S.A. - ADR

2025 results beat upgraded targets (strong “good surprise”) - Revenues EUR 27.3bn (+~7% excluding asset disposals), Group net income EUR 6.0bn. - Costs down 2% (ex-disposals) vs target of at least -1% → cost-to-income 63.6% (improvement >5pp, below 2025 target <65%). - Cost of risk 26 bps (within 25–30 bps guidance) and ROTE 10.2% (9.6% excluding capital gains) → above ~9% target.

Capital and shareholder returns: CET1 13.5% + large distributions (key investor headline) - CET1 = 13.5% after Basel IV impact and after EUR 2bn extraordinary share buybacks (2 additional buybacks), with Q4 CET1 stable at 13.5%. - Board proposes ordinary distribution EUR 2.7bn (+54% YoY): - Dividend per share EUR 1.61 total for FY (EUR 0.61 already interim, final EUR 1.00 paid June 2026, AGM approval). - Share buyback EUR 1.462bn (+68% YoY). - Capital return policy: 50% payout ratio + interim/dividend & buybacks; extraordinary distributions only addressed once/year at Q2 depending on excess capital.

Why buybacks paused (a notable “negative/surprising” operational detail) - Extraordinary buybacks (Nov 2025) were paused because the share price hit the max purchase price authorized by shareholders (resolution capped at EUR 75), not because of strategy/capital stop. - Management says they will seek a higher cap at the next AGM to continue distributions.