Sociètè Gènèrale, fortemente colpita dalle vendite nella giornata di oggi con ribassi arrivati a oltre il 20% (per poi chiudere a quasi -15%), ha precisato che la sua esposizione verso il debito dei Paesi periferici dell'eurozona è bassa e che sono confermate le attese di utili solidi in futuro con riscontri positivi dal mese di luglio e dal primo scorcio di agosto. In merito alle indiscrezioni di difficoltà della banca transalpina circolate oggi, SocGen ha detto di aver avanzato all'AMF (la Consob francese) la richiesta di aprire un'indagine per scoprire la fonte di questi falsi rumor che hanno portato al tonfo del titolo a Parigi.
--Societe Generale cites "soundness" of its first-half financial results
--Also reaffirms its low exposure to sovereign debt of peripheral euro-zone countries
--The bank's shares end day down 14.7%, as financial stocks led rest of market lower
(Adds further comment from Societe Generale and details of market rumor, beginning in fifth paragraph.)
By David Pearson Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES PARIS (Dow Jones)--Societe Generale SA (GLE.FR, SCGLY) said Wednesday it has asked France's financial markets watchdog Autorite des Marches Financiers to investigate the origin of rumors that caused the bank's share price to plunge more than 20% at one point in hectic trading Wednesday.
Societe Generale asked the AMF to "open an inquiry into the origin of these rumors, which are extremely harmful to the interests of its shareholders," the bank said in a statement.
Societe Generale pointed to the "soundness" of its first-half financial results, reaffirmed its low exposure to the sovereign debt of peripheral euro-zone countries, and said its performance in July and August underline its capacity to generate solid earnings in the future.
The bank's shares ended the day at EUR22.18, a drop of 14.7% from Tuesday's close, and other French banks were also down. By the end of trading, the CAC-40 index was off 5.5%, with financial stocks leading the rest of the market lower.
Investors dumped Societe Generale shares amid a market rumor that European banks holding Greek sovereign bonds maturing between 2020 and 2025 might now also be included in a restructuring agreement with the private sector as part of the second bailout for the troubled euro-zone nation. The current proposed program only covers bonds until 2020. Societe Generale said it has no exposure to Greece beyond 2020.
Societe Generale said its first-half results published last week demonstrated its ability to produce solid results, even after absorbing the impact of the Greek bailout plan. Earlier this month, the bank said it had booked a EUR395 million provision against second-quarter earnings to cover likely losses on its portfolio of Greek sovereign bonds maturing between now and 2020.
It said its results enabled it to reinforce its financial structure, with its core Tier 1 ratio--a measure of its core equity capital compared with total risk-weighted assets--now at a high level of 9.1%.