Societe Generale SA French Retail Banking Event (Virtual) Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Omar Fall - Barclays Bank PLC, Research Division - Analyst : Thank you for the interesting presentation. So just firstly, just working it out, if there's a EUR 5 billion cost base for the networks and maybe another few hundred or so for Boursorama. If I take 30 bps cost of risk, which is the -- through-the-cycle level, to then get to your RONE target kind of implies a revenue decline from this year, like EUR 500 million or so. I know you don't want to give certain guidance on revenues, which is understandable, I think, in this environment. But I'm sure there's something wrong with that math. So maybe you could help me with that. Then the second question is just on Boursorama. Could you give us a sense of what the proportion of primary active clients at Boursorama what they are now. I think it suggests a 50% on Slide 58, but I'm not sure if I'm reading that right. And how conversion of effective primary clients plays into the strategy going forward? I know we discussed this quite a bit at this divisional presentation last year, so maybe just an update on that would be helpful.

Question: Delphine Lee - JPMorgan Chase & Co, Research Division - Analyst : Yes. So I just have 2 quick clarification, actually. The first one is on the -- so going back to Boursorama. So if we like -- if we look at your Slide 32, I mean, if we were to understand a little bit the impact of client acquisition costs, I mean, is that -- just going back, I mean, without getting the exact numbers. Is it -- so it's mostly in -- so it mostly is the customer rebates impact on the revenues as opposed to the marketing costs? Or I mean, just to get a little bit of a feel of how they're split between revenues and costs at this point of this year. And then my second question is just on the timing of the cost savings. So from all that you said around the data migration and the social constraints. So is it fair to assume that it's actually almost no impact in the next 3 years until '23 included on cost saves in French retail from this merger?

Question: Jonathan Matthew Balfour Clark - Mediobanca - Banca di Credito Finanziario S.p.A., Research Division - Analyst : Some more questions on costs, please. Firstly, a clarification. Could you just clarify whether the outer year cost reduction guidance assumes the fallout of the single resolution fund contribution that's attributable to the retail division. Secondly, could you give us some idea of what you think the normal cost inflation for the French retail business is if you were to do nothing? And then thirdly, could you just clarify, is this effectively hit on cost measures until 2025? I mean, once you've negotiated this with the unions, do you, therefore, have no more scope to implement any further measures until this project is complete? Because usually, you seem to do things every 2, 3 years, have a new plan for retail costs, but this would obviously be a longer period for a single project.

Question: Jonathan Matthew Balfour Clark - Mediobanca - Banca di Credito Finanziario S.p.A., Research Division - Analyst : The only other one was on the kind of the normal cost inflation you would expect if you did nothing.

Question: Andrew Lowe - Joh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co. KG, Research Division - Analyst : My question just follows on from what you said about the revenue dissynergies from the merger being relatively limited. And I just wondered, if this is the case, what's prevented you from doing this merger earlier, i.e., why do it now or not 3 years ago?

Question: Andrew Lowe - Joh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co. KG, Research Division - Analyst : Yes. No, that's all.

Question: Pierre Chedeville - CIC Market Solutions (ESN), Research Division - Analyst : Just want to have some clarification regarding the project in the concrete aspect. Because you have given the example of 2 branches in Avenue des Ternes, which is, I would say, the simplest example in terms of rationalization...

Question: Pierre Chedeville - CIC Market Solutions (ESN), Research Division - Analyst : I know the fact. But this is not -- this is not my point. I know very well the original network because I've been the auditor, as you know, during several years. And I know something is that clients are very attached to the name of the called bunkers are very excellent. As far as I understand, you are going to make legal mergers, but it's not very clear regarding the maintain or not of the name of the company. So my point is, I am in Marseille, and I have (inaudible) a branch because I know you have a branch of SociTtT GTnTrale and (inaudible) and you have, of course, a big branch of SociTtT Marseilles de CrTdit. Well, you legally merge. But at the end of the day, if I'm a client of SociTtT Marseilles de CrTdit, if I have only 1 branch, what would it be? It would be Asia branch? It would be SociTtT Marseillaise de CrTdit branch, would it be Asia Marseille branch? You see what I mean?

Question: Pierre Chedeville - CIC Market Solutions (ESN), Research Division - Analyst : And the corollary of my question is, out of the 600 branches you are going to close, which part will be in real province, I would say? And which part will be in the major acts of SG network, Lille aprFs ceux de Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseilles, Bordeaux. You see what I mean?

Question: Pierre Chedeville - CIC Market Solutions (ESN), Research Division - Analyst : My last question is regarding the breakdown of restructuring costs, which is quite significant, I would say. You mentioned a lot IT. But what would be IT part of this restructuring cost? And what would be people part of this restructuring cost? REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. DECEMBER 07, 2020 / 8:00AM, SOGN.PA - Societe Generale SA French Retail Banking Event (Virtual)