Société Générale has reported an 86 per cent fall in quarterly net profit as the cost of exiting businesses outweighed a quadrupling of investment banking profits.

France’s second-largest bank by market value booked €771 million of exceptional items, including a hit of €389 million on the theoretical cost of buying back its own debt, €130 million loss on the sale of its Greek bank and €92 million on the sale of TCW, the US-based asset management company.

SocGen reported net profits of €85 million in the three months to the end of September, down from €622 million in the same period last year. Analysts at Citgroup said the bank’s operating profit, excluding exceptionals – of €1.4 billion – was better than expected, thanks to stronger trading across most divisions. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2012