Societe Generale shares slump on profit warning
By Associated Press
Feb 11, 2016 3:55 AM CST

PARIS (AP) — Shares in Societe Generale slumped Thursday after the French bank warned it would not achieve a targeted increase in profitability this year.

Societe General blamed a rise in regulatory capital requirements and "the economic and financial environment" as it abandoned a long-held target of 10 percent return on equity by the end of 2016. It set no new timeframe for achieving the target.

Last year, the bank posted an 8.1 percent return on equity, a measure of a company's profitability.

Societe Generale shares tumbled at the open of the Paris stock exchange and were down 13 percent at 27.26 euros in morning trading.

The warning came as the bank reported a rise in 2015 net profit to 4 billion euros.