Monday, June 9, 2014

Seeking Alpha: Societe Generale Continues To Grind Forward

The last three months haven't been the easiest stretch for Western European banks, and Societe Generale (OTCPK:SCGLY) is down around 6% over that stretch. BNP Paribas (OTCQX:BNPQY) has been even weaker (down more than 10%), while Credit Agricole (OTCPK:CRARY), UniCredit (OTCPK:UNCFF), Credit Suisse (CS) and many others have done better but are still down over that short stretch.

Not all that much has changed, but banks have moved to a different part of the recovery phase. First quarter results were pretty "meh," including those at Societe Generale. The stories have shifted from significant cost of equity and balance sheet improvements to slower, grind-it-out return on equity improvements. I continue to believe that Societe Generale is undervalued and one of the more attractively-priced large bank stories today, but it's going to take time and the Street still isn't convinced that Societe Generale is going to produce the double-digit ROE on schedule and/or improve its lagging Russian operations.

Read more here:
Societe Generale Continues To Grind Forward

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