Societe Generale SA saw its stock price rise in early trading on Monday after the French lender unveiled a new strategic plan aimed at boosting profitability by 2029 through cost cuts, revenue growth, and expanded use of artificial intelligence. Shares gained 4 percent during Monday's morning session, bringing the year-to-date advance to nearly 10 percent.
The bank said its goal is to reduce costs by approximately 2 percent by 2029 relative to this year's expected level, while targeting average annual group revenue growth of about 3 percent over the 2026-2029 period. Societe Generale added that total capital returns to shareholders during that same window are expected to exceed 21 billion euros, equivalent to roughly 241.2 billion US dollars.
Chief Executive Officer Slawomir Krupa stated that the group will accelerate growth in profitable business lines while maintaining strict cost discipline. The bank has set a key profitability target of achieving a tangible return on equity between 13 percent and 14 percent by 2029, with the metric expected to surpass 15 percent from 2030 onward. For comparison, the tangible return on equity stood at 10.2 percent in 2025.
Societe Generale's stock has nearly tripled in value since Krupa introduced his first three-year earnings improvement plan in 2023, which originally targeted a tangible return on equity above 10 percent by 2026. The bank's profits have grown over the past two years, benefiting from higher interest rates and ongoing cost reductions.
The new strategic roadmap calls for reducing information technology spending and procurement costs to achieve savings, while simultaneously expanding the deployment of AI across operations. The bank also plans to trim its workforce through natural attrition, though it did not disclose specific job-cut figures. Societe Generale expects AI adoption to deliver cost savings of between 500 million and 600 million euros, with roughly 350 million euros of that amount realizable by 2029.
The French lender revealed that it has signed a strategic partnership agreement with Anthropic to accelerate enterprise-grade AI implementation. According to the bank, this collaboration will strategically enhance operational efficiency while simultaneously improving the quality of service delivered to clients.
Investment resources will be directed toward business segments with the strongest returns, including digital banking subsidiary BoursoBank, wealth and savings operations, parts of the global banking and investor solutions division, Eastern European activities, and mobility company Avyens. BoursoBank aims to grow its customer base from 9.1 million at the end of the second quarter to more than 14 million by the end of 2029.
The bank further stated that regular shareholder distributions through a combination of dividends and share buybacks will exceed 13 billion euros over the 2026-2029 period. Additional payouts derived from excess capital could reach as much as approximately 8 billion euros.
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