Ladies and gentlemen. I'm delighted to welcome you to the CNIT Centre. This is the 11th meeting that I've chaired, and it's also my last. For 11 years, as the first independent Chairman of Société Générale, and with the support of the Board of Directors, we've been able to maintain the benefits of governance of the very highest standards, which has enabled us to weather crisis, of which there have been many, right? There is sanctions, COVID, Russian crisis. We also managed to renew the company by successfully managing the leadership transition from Frédéric Oudéa to Slawomir Krupa. We've managed to define and implement, since 2023, a strategic review that has now enabled Société Générale to rejoin the ranks of Europe's leading banks. At the end of this term of office, the 2025 appointment is historic, the result of the transformation initiated three years ago.
The slide on the value creation from 2015 to the date of my appointment as chairman speaks for itself, and I think illustrates the performance of recent years. Although it should not be misleading. There remains much to be done to consolidate the reorganization of our group, Mr. Krupa will certainly outline the main thrust of our thinking for the future, which is set against a backdrop of profound change, a macroeconomic and geopolitical environment in crisis and fraught with uncertainty, a technological revolution driven by AI, a revolution in how bank customers use their services, the success of Bourso Bank being one of the symbols of this, the emergence of crypto assets and stable coins. With Forge, we are one of the key players, by the way. Huge global financing needs, particularly for the energy transition. The list of ongoing disruption is a long one.
To conclude this brief introduction, I must pay tribute on behalf of the Board of Directors and on behalf of you all to the performance of the bank's staff and management. Without them, none of this would be possible. Joining me on stage to speak with you are Slawomir Krupa, who is CEO, and Pierre Palmieri, who is the Deputy CEO. During our meeting, we'll have an update on the results by our CFO, Leopoldo Alvear. We'll have an update on strategy by our CEO, Slawomir Krupa. We'll have a specific agenda item on CSR and climate change. This by Pierre Palmieri. We'll have an update on the corporate governance. This by myself. We'll have an update on remuneration by Annette Messemer, who is Chair of the Remuneration Committee, and we'll have the discussion followed by a vote on the resolution.
Before we proceed to formalities. Our quorum is at 64.93%, that's 474,130,730 shares for 30,575 shareholders. Patrick Suet, who did the supervision of 26 general assemblies, told me this is a record-breaking quorum. With this, we may now proceed to the appointment of the officers of our Annual General Meeting. The two shareholders who have accepted the roles, and who either have or as proxies, hold the largest number of votes, have been appointed as scrutineers. Eloïse Couraud, representing BNP Paribas Asset Management, and Mr. Jordi Debrulle, representing Amundi. I'd like to thank them warmly for their agreement, and propose that as Secretary of the Board of Directors, we appoint Patrick Suet. Sorry, he's secretary of the board of directors, and so he may be appointed secretary to the meeting.
He's been Secretary of the board since 2010, and by the way, this is his last General Assembly. I'd like to thank him for all his work. I also would like to remind you that we have indeed put all the documents online, and made available to us. As every year, our proceedings are being broadcast live on the internet and will be available to view on-demand on our website. Now, as we do every year, we conducted a survey of individual shareholders in preparation for this annual general meeting, and 4,014 individual shareholders responded. As it is the case every year, the survey shows that your primary interest lies in the group's strategy, results, and financial strength, as well as in the dividend and distribution policy. These are followed by executive remuneration, risk management, as well as the group's innovation and digital transformation.
All of these topics will be discussed today. You will have the opportunity to revisit them during the debate. To ensure discussions run smoothly, I would like to inform you that staff members are stationed at the entrance to answer any questions you may have as clients. I would also like to point out that while this meeting is being streamed online, we are committed to respecting each and every one of you by not broadcasting images of those attending the general meeting, including those asking questions. Ladies and gentlemen, with this, I would like to move to the next item, and I'll ask Leopoldo Alvear to join us on board for the financial results. He'll be speaking English, but we will have a translation into English for those who need this.
Ladies and gentlemen, I am delighted to be here with you once again to present the group's performance. I would like to take you through our 2025 results, followed by our ambitions for 2026, before concluding with our first quarter 2026 performance, published on the 30th of April last year. Let me continue in English, please. As you can see on the slide, 2025 was another year of strong achievements across all key metrics, with all 2025 targets achieved or exceeded. In details, our revenues were up by almost 7% excluding disposals, more than double our target of above 3%, driven by a strong performance across all our businesses. We had a strong increase in the net interest income in French retail and record high assets under management, both in life insurance and private banking activities.
BoursoBank continued to grow sharply, gaining 1.9 million new clients, bringing its total to close to 9 million by the end of 2025. Global Banking and Investor Solutions had a record year in terms of revenues, exceeding the 10 billion mark, driven by a strong performance in both Global Markets and Banking and Advisory. International Retail Banking continued to deliver robust commercial performance, especially KB and BRD, our retail banking franchises in the Czech Republic and Romania, with a successful optimization and continued digitalization of the respective distribution networks. Ayvens continued to steadily enhance its margins throughout 2025, thanks to the strategic decision to focus on profitability and key risk management. Furthermore, we maintained strict discipline in cost monitorings and risk management.
On one hand, our costs are down -2% compared to 2024, excluding disposals, better than our 2025 target of more than -1%, and allowing us to reach a cost-to-income ratio of 63.6% for the year. This is more than 5 percentage points of improvement over the previous year, and improving our 2025 target of a cost-to-income ratio below 65%. This evolution demonstrates our absolute commitment to reduce structurally our cost base. On the other hand, cost of risk for the year was 26 basis points at the lower end of our guidance range, reflecting the high quality of our loan origination, as well as the diversification and strength of our risk management. Overall, this translated into a significant improvement in profitability, with a ROTE reaching 10.2% for the year, up 3.3 percentage points versus 2024 and comfortably above our 2025 target of around 9%.
Finally, these earnings allowed us to further strengthen our capital by around 20 basis points over the year to reach a CET1 ratio of 13.5% after Basel IV implementation. A strong level, especially taking into account that we executed, in 2025, our first ever extraordinary distributions in the form of two additional share buybacks for a total amount of EUR 2 billion. Our 2026 targets reflect our continued focus on growth, operating leverage, and sound risk management. The execution of our roadmap resulted in an upgrade of our return on tangible equity target to more than 10% for the year, versus the one set at the CMD back in 2023 of a range of 9%-10%. In details, for 2026, we expect a revenue growth above 2% versus 2025 on a reported basis. A further net cost decrease of around -3% versus 2025, again, on a reported basis.
A cost-to-income ratio below 60%, a cost of risk within the 25-30 basis points range, and last, CET1 ratio above 13% throughout the year. At business level, all our CMD financial targets for 2026 are confirmed. Looking in details, BoursoBank will fuel 2026 profitability, contributing more than EUR 300 million to the group's net income. In addition, the global markets revenue target is adjusted for the consolidation of Bernstein US and is now estimated between EUR 5.1 billion and EUR 5.7 billion for 2026.
On costs, the objective to further enhance operational efficiency remains consistent across all businesses. Accordingly, we confirmed the cost-to-income ratio targets in 2026 for each business line with a cost-to-income ratio below 60% in French retail, private banking, and insurance, a cost-to-income ratio below 65% in Global Banking and Investor Solutions, a cost-to-income ratio below 55% in mobility, international retail banking, and financial services, including a cost-to-income ratio of around 52% at Ayvens level, excluding used car sales results and other non-recurrent items. To conclude, let's move on to our Q1 2026 financial results. These results demonstrate the consistency of our execution and confirm that we're well on track to meet our 2026 targets. We reported a group net income of EUR 1.7 billion, up 5.5% versus Q1 2025. Consistent with previous quarters, these results demonstrate the sustainable improvement of our performance, both commercially and financially across our businesses.
Revenues were up 0.3%, despite negative impacts from FX and disposals completed in Q1 2025. At constant perimeter and exchange rate, the evolution was 4.4%. Costs are down 6% compared to Q1 2025, better than our annual target of a cost reduction of around - 3%, and down 2.6% compared to Q1 2025 at constant perimeter and exchange rates. The group achieved a cost-to-income ratio of 60.9% or 57.6% when linearizing IFRIC 21 taxes, which are yearly taxes fully paid in Q1 each year. This is in line with our end-of-year target of a cost-to-income ratio below 60%. The group continues to apply a rigorous risk management observable through a low cost of risk at 25 basis points, at the low end of our range of 25- 30 basis points, reflecting our strong asset quality in a complex and uncertain environment.
All of this resulted in an improvement of our return on tangible equity to 11.7%, well ahead of our end-of-the-year guidance of more than 10%. Finally, we maintain a strong capital position with a CET1 ratio of 13.5% at the end of Q1 2026.
For conclusion in French.
To conclude in French, our results confirm our Group's solid fundamentals with performance improving quarter- on- quarter, which reinforces our confidence in achieving our 2026 targets. Furthermore, thanks to a strong capital position and rigorous risk management, we approach the current environment with confidence. Thank you very much.
Well, thank you, Leopoldo. I now give the floor to Guillaume Mabille on behalf of the board of Statutory Auditors.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders, hello. In the name of KPMG and PwC, I am happy to present the 10 reports that we have established and which have been sent on to you in the bundle of documents. We have two reports on accounts, two reports on information on sustainability, a special report, and six reports on various operations on share distributions. Regarding the results, consolidated accounts for 2025. Let me remind you that our mission is about ensuring that these results have been, let's say, achieved without reservation. We can, without reservation, approve these results. Obviously, you will be approving these results in the first and second resolution that are going to be submitted to you.
We also have a presentation on a certain number of works that we believe bear a certain number of risks. We call these the key items of the audit. We have nine of them regarding the financials of 2025. Five of these items are about the consolidated accounts and the yearly accounts. We have a certain number of credits to clients, financial validations, two and three, the legal and tax risks, the risk related to outstandings in France, a certain number of IT-related controls linked to markets operations. Three key items are about the consolidated accounts, and namely regarding the Ayvens activities on car rentals. The variable commissions also, and the adjust hedging of interest rates, namely specifically for retail banking in France. Finally, regarding the yearly results for bonds and various participations in companies.
We have a number of other aspects that we cover in this report, we submit to the audit committee a detailed report regarding these. We do not have any specific observations regarding the internal management reports. We do these reports taking into account the European ESEF approach. Société Générale has published a certain number of information in their yearly reports that fit within the CSRD European directive. Within our report, and the idea being to provide you with a limited insurance, we present you with the conclusions of our work, and we can therefore say that we do not see any mistakes or errors regarding the compliance to the various rules and regulations of the information that has been published.
Regarding the special report on a certain number of regulated conventions, which is a fourth resolution, we can inform you that no resolution has been submitted to us, and no resolution already approved by this assembly has been put under question. Regarding the six reports on a certain number of capital-related operations and share distributions. Some are being submitted to you under Resolutions 19-23. These reports are to do with a certain number of share distributions, bond issuance, and capital increase for a certain number of subscription mechanisms. For each of these three reports, we have no specific observation to mention. I would like to mention also that we obviously could not issue or give any opinion regarding these reports, as the various observations have not been submitted to us.
We also have two reports on authorizations, which have been submitted to you for approval for the distribution of free shares related to performance. In our report, we did not mention any information about the reports provided to us by the board. This will be submitted to you in Resolutions 24 and 25. Finally, regarding the authorization that will be suggested to you to approve to management, this is Resolution 26. We have no observation to submit to you. Mr. Chairman, with this, I would like to thank you for the trust you put in us, we are very happy to continue working with you.
Thank you for this, Mr. Mabille. We now give the floor to Slawomir Krupa, who is our Chief Executive Officer, so that he may provide an update on the implementation of the strategy defined at the end of 2023, which by the way, runs until 2026, as well as the preparations for the new strategic plan, which is due to be presented on the 21st of September, 2026. First of all, a short video.
[Non-English content]
Ladies and gentlemen, dear shareholders. In May 2023, three years ago, you entrusted me with responsibility of leading our group as Chief Executive Officer. With your trust and with the support of the Board, I would like to thank everyone for the work you have done. We have opened a new era of our history. Starting with a clear diagnostic, we have come up with a plan. We have been able to present it in a very transparent way in September. In May 2024, 2025, I told you that we have been able to do exactly what we wanted to do without deviating from our strategy at all. I also told you that we would be trying to reach our objectives right up until the end of 2026. Today, I wanted to say the same thing to you.
For the second year, we have exceeded, in 2025, all of the objectives that we had set for ourselves, and this based on solid foundations for our bank. Rebuilding the foundations of our group, so we have a good liquidity situation, organic growth, better efficiency, managed risks, and better profitability. Everything that we needed to do to be able to continue to exist in a sustainable way, and also to finance this economy for our clients. It is a very difficult step for us, transforming our business, which has been something that has been very difficult to do, but necessary to be able to have better credibility. This is also important for the future of our bank. We have to work very carefully, we have to be very methodical. We need to have in our minds, the interests of shareholders, our employees, and all of the stakeholders.
We have to transform our culture, our process, and the organization of our work. This is something that we are doing now, and it is very demanding. We have followed three principles. Sustainable growth with a good portfolio, profitability thanks to a more efficient portfolio. First of all, a strong bank is one that is based on strong, solid foundations. Capital in our industry is a natural resource. Capital allows us to have margin maneuver through economic cycles, and to allow us to sustain our growth and our resilience. We are at 13%, 13% of equity. This was a fundamental decision. This was a decision that we made in 2023 and a major undertaking.
We therefore increased our capital base by more than EUR 4 billion. We achieved this by utilizing all available levers and almost two years ahead of schedule. This allowed us to do, as of 2025, to look at our distribution policy and to begin distributing, in a rational way, a considered matter, a portion of our capital surplus to shareholders. Sustainable growth. We simplified our portfolio, our activities portfolio, in a very responsible way. We have done this respecting the companies, our customers, and for our group. We have been able to focus on transforming our core businesses, where we are strongest, where we are most needed, and where we create the most value sustainably. For our market activities, we have also invested in the group's niches.
[Non-English content]
For our financing and advisory activity, we have launched a new model to improve our balance sheet efficiency in order to strategically increase our capacity to originate financing for our clients and distribute it to investors. This allow us to help our clients in their major transitions, and energy, namely, and technology transitions. This has allowed us to increase by 50% since 2023, the amounts that we have been able to pay out to clients. Now with the creation of Ayvens, which manages a fleet of nearly 3.5 million vehicles throughout the world, we have been able to consolidate the foundations of a global leader in this sector.
I would like to add that Ayvens, through the gradual electrification of its vehicle fleets, is making a real contribution on a scale befitting a leader to the decarbonization of mobility, with a third of the vehicles in its fleet being electric. We have gone on the offensive in retail banking, insurance, and private banking in 2023 with Bourso Bank, of course, a fully-fledged bank, a leader in online banking and approaching roughly at EUR 80 billion in assets under management and an average of around 9 million per customer. This bank has remained profitable for the third year running, demonstrating both the strength and sustainability of its model.
In traditional banking in France, SG is back and they're running, serving its customers across all key product lines, starting with mortgages and leading the way in savings, with record inflows into life insurance, and offering very attractive returns for customers, and occupying leading positions as a wealth management bank in France. We are also building, let's say, the future of this activity. Profitability. Well, profitability obviously is very important for us to continue what we do. This is the only source in terms of our investment ability. Obviously, we try to work with a lot of discipline, and if I may say, unprecedented discipline for our group.
Following a structured and consistent approach to thoroughly review our cost base, achieving a 2% reduction in costs compared to 2024 and 2025, excluding assets disposals , which is better than the annual target of 1%, and we thereby improved our operating leverage by more than 10 percentage points compared to 2023. We also have a very ambitious target for 2026 to reduce operating expenses by 3%. Now, when it comes to operational efficiency, we are very far from where we want to be. Our performances are very far from our European peers, and we are very much decided as on day one to continue pushing down this way. We are going to work on this transition, ensuring that we all stick together and that we all take up the various challenges that come our way.
We have achieved many good results, actually the best in our history in 2025. Growth across all business lines, targets exceeded in every respect. Even though we had to proceed with a number of the disposals. Our reported profitability has reached at 10%. It's much better than the average from the 2018 to 2022. Now the ability to achieve all these objectives at the same time is, I believe, the main feat of our performance since 2023. We, I believe, brought trust back to the market, investors, to you, shareholders, because without your trust, there is no future, no sustainable future for a company our size. If we look at the share price evolution, well, I think this just goes to show that we have managed to bring back trust to the company.
The cost of capital is at a historically low level for Société Générale. In three years, we have multiplied by three the valorization of the company, and we are breaking many records in this respect. For our shareholders, this represents obviously a value creation without parallel in our group's recent history. We have roughly EUR 4.7 billion returned to shareholders for 2025 in the form of dividends and share buybacks. In 2025, all of this total shareholder return is over roughly 237%, as you can see on this slide. This value creation obviously directly benefits the employee shareholders who represent 10% of the company's equity, and they are rewarded as employees, but also as shareholders. Dear shareholders, I think we have begun to write our story anew with the opportunity to once again be masters of our destiny. Obviously, there are uncertainties.
There are difference. We have geopolitical crisis, we have the crisis in the Middle East, the restructuring of the value chains, technological disruptions in international trade, supply of raw material, critical metals, and without the channels through which these factors affect the economy being entirely foreseeable or predictable. Fundamentally, something has changed in the way we must manage global groups in this increasingly uncertain world. We need to ensure risk management. We must apply the instincts right throughout our banking history, and we need to monitor these risks, extreme risks, namely. We need to, in other words, do our work with a lot of rigor and discipline, and always questioning what we do, the way we do it, in order to better perform year after year. We have a solid track record.
Most of all, we recognize that this is a work that needs to be done and improved on a daily basis. Stronger, we can also tackle the challenge of artificial intelligence head-on. Artificial intelligence has become almost a staple of general meeting speeches. The impact of AI are massive, decisive. These impacts need to be prepared, and we are preparing for them because there are a certain number of prerequisites in taking on new technologies, a certain number of different architectures in order to ensure that they are performing, and this obviously requires a certain number of modern infrastructures. We've been working on these issues and topics for years now in order to make this technological transition possible. We've launched a certain number of trials, tests. We are also training our employees to take on these changes.
Obviously, no one knows to what extent and how fast these changes will hit us, and how the impact will be big. We are in a transition. The banking industry is a great industry, and a great industry in which the quality of data management is huge. If we manage this in the right way, we will perform better and be able to reduce our costs. We are taking on this challenge, and we will be successful. Ladies and gentlemen, since 2023, we have rebuilt strong bases for our activity. If we continue with the necessary transitions or transformations, we will manage to continue the good results that we have shown in recent years. The financial solidity, the strategical rigor, the rigor in terms of cost management are the basis of a strong and sustainable growth.
This rigor is also the basis of a long-term quality commitment to our pledge to fund the economy and serve our clients. We are determined to ensure that this does not change. We have presented our strategy and our roadmap in 2023. We have implemented it in a very rigorous manner with results that you know. The commitment of all which will allow us to achieve and even do better than the 2026 objective that we have set ourselves. We are going to continue to do this, but we are much stronger to do so, and we will be able to go even further in order to do better than many of the best-performing banks in Europe.
This is an ambition that we will have at the heart of our next Capital Markets Day on the 21st of September, 2026, which will mark the start of the second phase of our transformation. I would like, obviously, to end my speech with a special thank you to our Chair, Lorenzo. Who is, as he mentioned, chairing today his final annual general meeting. Lorenzo's contribution to our governance over the years has been absolutely pivotal. He has brought to our group his broad perspective, his experience as a central banker, his deep understanding of macroeconomics, his ability to anticipate disruptions and changes in the environment, and finally, his European outlook. Lorenzo is a deeply European man. His courage and determination has allowed Société Générale to live through the crisis recent years.
Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to express, on behalf of the group, and in my name, obviously, our most sincere thanks for his service as he is about to pass the torch, with your support, to William Connelly as Chairman of our bank's Board of Directors. Thank you again. Bolstered by our 161-year history, our recent successes, and the strength of our franchises serving our 27 million customers. Bolstered by everything that we have proven to be able to do, I have unlimited confidence in our ability to meet the challenges before us, and in the ability of our company, Société Générale, to embrace the future and the opportunities for growth and value creation that lie ahead. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you. [Non-English content]
Thank you very much. Thank you for these nice words, Slawomir. I'm now going to give the floor to Pierre Palmieri. He will be presenting to us our CSR strategy.
Hello to everyone. As you know, we have chosen to embed sustainability issues into our strategy. We remain committed to this approach. We are strengthening the integration of these issues into the group's operations and supporting our clients through major transitions. We are pursuing this approach with a constant spirit of responsibility and innovation. Allow me to begin by highlighting three of the major upheavals we are collectively facing. Climate change remains a major challenge, as highlighted by the scientific community. Furthermore, at a time when the international balance of power is shifting, resilience and sovereignty are emerging as priorities. Finally, the development of artificial intelligence is a revolution for all economic players and is creating new opportunities.
Building the future with our employees and customers therefore requires foresight, a long-term vision, and determination. These challenges are an opportunity to grow our business, manage our risks, and make a positive contribution to the major transformations taking place in economies and societies. I would first like to review the concrete progress made in our CSR strategy, particularly in terms of the environmental transition. Firstly, we are continuing to pursue our objectives to decarbonize our operations. We have made significant progress regarding our financial portfolios in the highest emitting sectors. Here are two examples. By the end of 2025, we are ahead of schedule in reducing our exposure to oil and gas production by 80% between 2019 and 2030. We are also reducing the carbon intensity of our electricity generation financing portfolio. This is thanks to an increasingly significant share of electricity generated from renewable energy sources.
Through our leasing subsidiary, Ayvens, which operates the world's largest multi-brand fleet of electric vehicles, we are actively contributing to the electrification of our customers' vehicle fleets. Ayvens has, in fact, just received an SBTI certification, which is a Science Based Targets initiative certification for its decarbonization roadmap. We are also reducing emissions linked to our own operations. We are therefore on track to meet our target of 50% reduction between 2019 and 2030. We have achieved a 44% reduction by the end of 2025, excluding the purchase of renewable electricity. In particular, we are working on the energy efficiency of buildings, reducing business travel, and promoting more sustainable digital practices. Secondly, we are actively pursuing our goal of mobilizing EUR 500 billion for sustainable finance between 2024 and 2030. This ambition is reflected in financing, advisory mandates, and bond issues supporting environmental and social objectives.
By the end of 2025, this contribution will reach 165 billion EUR, slightly ahead of our target. I would also like to reaffirm our commitment to supporting our clients, both individuals and businesses, as they navigate the challenges of transition and adaptation. Our recognized expertise in renewable energy and the energy transitions constitutes a competitive advantage. This is reflected in our involvement in projects relating to energy generation, transmission, and storage, and infrastructure of carbon capture. As such, the group continues to distinguish itself as a leading player in project finance advisory services supporting this transition. Furthermore, the group continues to finance innovation by supporting the emergence of new players and new technologies: hydrogen, battery storage, and the electrification of road transport. Beyond financing the energy transition, this year has also been dedicated to continuing our efforts regarding adaptation and resilience in the face of climate change.
We have strengthened our capacity to analyze issues related to nature, particularly water, and the consequences of climate-related hazards. We are developing analytical tools to discuss the resilience of our clients' businesses with them. The aim is to help them better understand their risk and offer them the most appropriate advisory and financing solutions. As an example. For example, we have supported a 25-hectare afforestation project in the southeast of the U.S., as well as a program to adapt water infrastructure in the U.K. The group has also invested on its own behalf in projects in France. We are working to promote reforestation and regenerative agriculture. We are also supporting the plant of hedge growth and reintroduction of fruit-growing sectors. The Société Générale Group Foundation is strengthening its environmental initiatives through new partnerships.
For instance, it supports the Terre de Liens Foundation and more specifically, a program to reforest waterways across several geographical sites. In 2025, we carried out initiatives to raise customer awareness of ocean protection and water-related issues. The bank organizes conferences across all regions of France on these topics. Our employees worldwide took part in a charity sport challenge, supporting 11 partners committed to preserving the environment and biodiversity. I would like to emphasize that the past year marked an important step towards embedding CSR firmly into the bank's day-to-day operations. At an operational level, we have integrated environmental and social considerations into our strategic decisions and the group's processes. This approach has enabled us to meet the ECB's requirements, publish our second sustainability report, and align ourselves with the European Banking Authority's new guidelines on ESG risk management.
The consideration of environmental and social risks is reinforced by appropriate governance. The Board of Directors plays a central role. It approves the strategic directions, including those related to environmental and social matters, put forward by the executive management and ensures their implementation. It fully integrates social responsibility issues within its bodies, notably through the risk committee. This governance forms the foundation of an ambitious social policy, placing human capital at the heart of the group's sustainable performance against a backdrop of profound transformation. This translates into a constant and renewed commitment to ensure the skill match job requirements based on training, adaptation, and the anticipation of skills needs. This policy prioritizes internal mobility over redundancy plans. In 2025, over 60% of positions were filled through internal mobility, and each employee received an average of 33 hours of training.
The group is committed to promoting individual and collective performance by fostering cohesion, collaboration, and the transfer of skills. In this context, remote working practices have been reviewed and are currently being harmonized. They aim to support effective teamwork, cooperation between business lines, and a sense of belonging to the group. Furthermore, ongoing simplification efforts aim to improve quality of life at work. The group also promotes a fair and inclusive environment. The proportion of women within the top 250 is increasing and will exceed 31% by 2025. The results of the employee barometer, which are down since 2024, are a key concern for senior management. Our employees' commitment is indeed seen as a key factor in the success of our collective project. The group's ESG policy is recognized by non-financial rating agencies, which rank Société Générale above the sector average and, in some cases, at the highest level.
Once again, this year, we have been honored by several awards, both for our CSR strategy and also for our ability to structure innovative initiatives in this field. In conclusion, our determination to contribute to a sustainable world remains undiminished. Ensuring our actions are sustainable and working towards transition adaptation is, above all, a matter of creating value for our clients, our employees, and, of course, our shareholders. Thank you very much for your attention.
Thank you very much, Pierre. Now we are going to be looking at the company governance. You can look at Page 63. There is a report on company governance that you can read the report. You will also see the chairman's activities. In 2025, the Board of Directors met 11x . This does not include committee meetings. There were 35 meetings in total, meetings of non-executive directors and strategy seminars and training sessions.
The attendance rate was 65%. This reflects the very high level of commitment shown by the directors. In addition to all regulatory matters, the Board of Directors devoted considerable time to strategy, in particular to monitoring the implementation of the guidelines announced at the Capital Markets Day on the 18th of September, 2023 for the period of 2024 to 2026. The Board of Directors has also approved the bank's CSR strategy. It has worked extensively on the sustainability report, and you have the contents of which can be found in the universal registration document on Page 263, and the following pages. On Page 62, you have the universal registration document. You will find a summary of the assessment of the Board of Directors' work. This assessment was carried out independently by Spencer Stuart. It is very positive, both in terms of the board's composition and the quality of its work.
The Board of Directors has ensured that it possesses all the necessary expertise for its operations. The arrival of Ingrid-Helen Arnold has strengthened its technological expertise, and with Laura Barlow, has bolstered its expertise in risk and CSR, and with Olivier Klein, has enhanced its expertise in retail banking. I would remind you that the Board of Directors also benefits from the expertise and experience of its non-executive director, JB Lévy, and CSR and climate issues. We have also taken steps to enhance the training of the 14 members of the Board of Directors, particularly on CSR issues, but also on artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, which are key topics for the future of the banking industry. As for my personal role, I have been actively involved in liaising with regulators and have met with international shareholders and investors, particularly in the run-up to the Annual General Meeting.
The year 2025 was marked by several major governance decisions. We announced the reappointment of Slawomir Krupa as CEO upon renewal of his term as a Director in 2027. This early decision is based on three key considerations. First, to stabilize the group's governance. Two, to put the group in the best possible position to prepare the new strategic plan, which will be announced in September 2026. Three, to enable Slawomir Krupa, whose track record has been exceptional, to continue his work for the benefit of the group, its employees, its shareholders, and its customers. Secondly, we wanted to strengthen the attractiveness and effectiveness of the Board of Directors through remuneration commensurate with its objective of becoming a major bank in Europe.
It is therefore proposed to increase the remuneration budget from EUR 1.835 million- EUR 2.25 million to bring it closer to the average for European banks, around EUR 3 million. Three, I would like to prepare my replacement as Chairman by appointing William Connelly. This choice was already presented to you last year. William Connelly has extensive banking and financial experience. He is thoroughly familiar with corporate governance, having previously chaired for Aegon, and also has highly valuable experience in technology as he chairs at Amadeus. Following this meeting, it will be for the board to confirm his appointment. In anticipation of this, I offer him, on my own behalf and on yours, my most sincere congratulations. Four, we will be replacing certain directors with my departure and with William Connelly moving in as Chair of the risk committee to Chair of the Board.
William Connelly was tasked with finding a candidate capable of chairing the risk committee. William Connelly has successfully met this challenge by putting forward the nomination of Clara Furse for your vote. Clara has extensive banking and financial experiences, having notably served as a chief executive who shaped the London Stock Exchange into what it is today. She subsequently served as a Director of Major Financial Institutions. Thank you, Clara, for being here today. Could you please tell us what your motivation is, Clara?
[Non-English content]
Hello, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Clara Furse. It is a pleasure to be here today at this General Assembly. I am very honored to be here. I'm very honored to be able to present myself. After more than 40 years working in the financial sector, working in the City of London, I have gained a profound knowledge that I hope to bring to the Board of Directors of this very important universal bank. I am very excited to be able to participate in meeting our ambitions and also in developing the Société Générale in the years to come. [Non-English content] Laura Barlow. [Non-English content]
[Non-English content]
[Non-English content]
[Non-English content]
[Non-English content]
[Non-English content]
Ladies and gentlemen.
[Non-English content]
The remuneration will be fixed at.
[Non-English content]
According to the laws, the General Assembly must approve the amount in 2026.
Non-English Content]
Attention needs to be given to this presentation.
Non-English content]
To the increasing of the remuneration for the general director, which is resolution number 6.
[Non-English content]
For the Chairman, the amount remains the same.
[Non-English content]
For Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, it was fixed at EUR 925,000 gross per annum since May 2028, and for the duration of his term in office.
[Non-English content]
Concerning the remuneration of William Connelly, the Board of Directors intends to maintain his remuneration at the same level as that of his predecessor. This approach is justified by Mr. Connelly's experience as a Director of Société Générale, as a Chairman of the Risk Committee since 2018. He was Chairman of Aegon and former CEO of ING, and by the European benchmark. As a regulated institution, Société Générale is in a comparable position to Barclays, UniCredit, Intesa, Deutsche Bank, and BNP Paribas. With regard to the remuneration of Executive Directors for the year 2025, the various components are set out in the table below and have been determined in accordance with the rules of the Remuneration Policy approved for the year of 2025. This includes fixed remuneration, annual variable remuneration, and long-term incentive schemes.
The amounts of the annual variable remuneration were determined taking into account the rate of achievement of the targets set for the 2025 financial year. More than 55% of the annual variable remuneration is linked to the value of the SG shares, and 60% of the total is deferred over five years and subject to performance conditions in accordance with banking regulations. The long-term incentive, which is entirely linked to the share price, may only be vested after five years, subject to the fulfillment of performance conditions. For 1/3 linked to the relative performance of the SG share, 1/3 linked to future profitability measured by ROTE, and one third linked to an 80% reduction in exposure to the oil and gas sectors, and a contribution of EUR 500 billion to sustainable finance.
On this basis, the Chief Executive Officer's total remuneration for 2025 will be 1% lower than the remuneration awarded for 2024. The 2025 executive remuneration report contains information on changes in the remuneration of each executive director, compared with the average and median remuneration of employees and the group's performance. The charts presented show the ratio between the Chief Executive Officer's remuneration and the average employee remuneration since 2023. The 2025 ratio is down compared with 2024. It should be noted that over the period between 2023 and 2025, the group's profitability was measured by ROTE, increased by six percentage points. Earnings per share increased by 213%, and total shareholder return increased by 237%.
In connection with the four-year renewal of Slawomir Krupa's term of office with effect from the Annual General Meeting of the 16th of May, 2027, the board of directors proposes to increase his fixed remuneration for 2026 to EUR 2.4 million, compared with EUR 1.65 million since his appointment in May 2023. The variable component remains unchanged. This proposal is based on the following factors. The positioning of the proposed fixed remuneration has been determined in relation to a panel of benchmark European banks. The table on the right shows the positioning of the Chief Executive Officer's fixed remuneration before and after the proposed revision, based on the study carried out by Willis Towers Watson. Currently, the Chief Executive Officer's fixed remuneration is 28% below the panel median and falls within the first quartile.
Following the increase, it will be close to the median, but would remain 34% below the third quartile of the European panel. Exceptional performance since taking up his position, exceeding all targets announced for 2025, revenue growth, cost and risk control, profitability, the completion of the divestment plan and the sharp rise in the share price. The desire to secure the group's leadership in the long- term within a highly competitive international environment where senior executives are scarce, and where Slawomir Krupa enjoys international recognition. Finally, this remuneration will not be reviewed upon the renewal of the mandate next year and at the very least, for the duration of the new strategic plan, in accordance with the recommendations of the Afep-MEDEF corporate governance code. Pierre Palmieri's fixed remuneration remains unchanged. Now with regards variable remuneration, its terms remain unchanged for 2026.
It comprises annual variable remuneration and a long-term incentive scheme. The target annual variable remuneration is determined 65% on the basis of the achievement of financial criteria relating to the ROTE, the group operating ratio, and the CET1 ratio used as a threshold criterion, 20% on the basis of the achievement of CSR objectives, and 15% on the basis of regulatory compliance and group transformation criteria common to all chief executives, as well as on objectives specific to each executive. Long-term incentive awards may only be vested after five years, subject to the fulfillment of performance conditions. The Board of Directors will define following the publication of the new strategic plan, which is scheduled for September, the new structure and the new targets for the variable component of the Chief Executive Officer's remuneration for 2027.
It is noted that in accordance with banking regulations, the sum of the annual variable remuneration and long-term incentive awarded may not exceed two years' fixed remuneration. Chief Executive Officers are also eligible for compensation to offset a non-competition clause paid at the level of their fixed remuneration and lasting for 12 months. A severance payment, which is paid only in the event of compulsory departure from the group. Finally, managing directors retain the benefit of the supplementary pension scheme for C executives. Finally, the remuneration committee has ensured that the remuneration arrangements for regulated under the CRD V directive demands to be paid to this group in 2025 are submitted to you for a consultative vote via the 13th resolution. Thank you for your attention.
Thank you. Thank you, Annette. Let's now move to questions. Regarding written questions.
This year, shareholders submitted one or more written questions, usually several. The total number of questions we received was 69 by nine shareholders. For retail shareholders and institutional shareholders, the responses were published on the general meeting websites. Apart from those of a purely informative nature, the questions related to the topics that had already been addressed since the start of the general meeting. Results and accounts, dividend policy, and above all, CSR policy and the climate transition. Now, as these responses have been published, they will not be read out during the meeting. Now I'll now open the floor for questions from the audience. As I've already mentioned, if you have any questions regarding your personal situation as a customer, there is a stand at the entrance where staff will be able to assist you, and they will be available to you after the Annual General Meeting.
Microphones are available and will be passed to you by the hostesses. Please return the microphone as soon as you have finished your question. I would also ask everyone to keep their comments brief and limit the number of questions so that as many shareholders as possible can speak. I suggest we begin with a question from the Shareholders' Consultative Committee. Ma'am Véronique de la Bachelerie, you have the floor.
Hello. Like many individual shareholders, I've been a loyal SG shareholder for over 15 years. On behalf of the individual shareholders I represent today, I would first like to offer my congratulations to you, your Executive Committee, and all your teams on the challenging transformation you have successfully led over the past three years.
Thanks to the strong recovery in financial indicators, you have restored investor confidence in the SG group, as evidenced by the remarkable rise in the share price from which we have all benefited. In light of the indicators mentioned in the non-financial report, there has been a decline in staff engagement on the one hand, and in the quality of the business and customer loyalty, as measured by customer satisfaction levels on the other. With satisfaction levels falling for the second consecutive year within the French network, resulting from the CDN and SG merger, which accounts for a significant proportion of the group's results. These two assets are essential to value creation in the medium- term.
My question is, in a highly competitive environment, mutualist network on the one hand, digital banks on the other, and retaining the skills necessary for the development of strategic activities, what role do you intend to give to these two assets in the forthcoming 2027-2030 strategic plan, and with what objectives? Jean-Pierre. Is it working?
Thank you, Véronique. To start with, on behalf of the teams, on behalf of the management team, thank you very much for your very kind words. Obviously, what we do requires strong commitments and hard work on a daily basis. It is always nice to see that people feel this and acknowledge it. You ask a very, very important question about two very important assets for every company, but Société Générale specifically. I'll try and take a bit of time to answer this question. Let's start with the barometer.
If you take a step back, you need to bear in mind that 2024 as the first year of our transformation, saw many aspects of the transformation linked to the financial transformation, right. On the capital and also the various disposals. In reality, the transformation perceived by the teams, and especially regarding their daily work, really happened in 2025. In 2024, we made many and very strategic decisions, which had an indirect impact on employees. Obviously, excluding those who were part of the disposal schemes. In 2025, employees are directly impacted, let's say. In 2025, we are in this context of transformation, as you mentioned in your question. This environment is very broad, right. This naturally creates the challenges to our teams. If I could summarize this in a few words, we require from everyone much more efficiency, less waste.
We are much more demanding with our teams, and we ask them to be demanding with themselves and with their colleagues. A certain number of changes in the work organization, and a lot of questioning, and namely questioning the culture of our company. A certain number of practices that have been around for decades need to change, and need to be changed in a certain number of aspects, and especially in environments with increasing uncertainty. Environments in which there is increasing anxiety, and an environment in which changing these habits is tougher. It also requires our employees to make different decisions or decisions in a different way. Now, all of this obviously applies to everyone, to management, to senior management, to myself. Now, in the barometer, the survey, we have a very interesting feedback. It is obviously a very serious exercise that we take very seriously.
This feedback, we have to take into account. We take into account. It has to lead us to question ourselves. It leads me to question myself. We need to come up with a positive answer, in that we take into account what our teams tell us, and we try to come up with the answers that are expected from us. As you said, the assets, namely the teams that interact on a daily basis with our customers is very important, as without them, there is no long-term future for any company and for Société Générale for that matter. We have committed to work on four different aspects. To start with, spend more time in explaining.
I don't need to go over everything that we say, but in 2024, we spent a lot of time explaining what we do, trying to decipher the various decisions that we made, strategic decisions that we made, and which we call financial decisions, but they're not so much financial, rather they are strategic, and they set the structure of our strategy. Well, we've seen in different ways today to what extent we were right to make these changes. The efforts that we put in explaining these decisions was not sufficient. We need to improve this. Secondly, we need to organize ourselves in a better way when it comes to listening to the teams in order to ensure that we capture everywhere the various messages that are sent to us.
Be it in New York, in Wall Street, or be it in a small local branch, or be it in India. Everywhere we have staff, we have people who have questions for us, all these questions, individual questions, we need to be able to consider. Third, we need to accelerate the simplification. There is indeed a very concrete positive impact for this. Now, I'll give you a few examples. EUR 1 billion, you know the size of the company. The cost structure of the company is EUR 1 billion. Right? In terms of additional labor costs. Right? That is significant. The intéressement scheme has increased by 50% roughly EUR 100 million last year. I am not even mentioning the value creation it's difficult to do it but it's to EUR 100 million.
From a financial point of view, if we take a step back, I think we can agree to say that there are concrete benefits to do what we have done. Where it is not that obvious, it's when it comes to simplifying these simplifications. It's still quite difficult for many of the guys out there to really understand all of this, and sometimes imperfections, and I think it's not much saying this, the imperfection is too important, and the quality is not there. The thing is that we have all these changes that are ongoing, and our colleagues do not yet see or sense the benefit to them in terms of quality of the work organization. It is indeed linked, namely on the quality of the tools that we make available and also the quality of our processes.
We have an ongoing transformation program, which is rather holistic, which is being implemented by thousands of our employees, and we are adding a specific approach to this to simplifying our operations and simplifying, and in that, improving the quality of life at work. These simplification actions will be backed by a certain number of investments, namely in IT tools. We've already started this, right? Because there was an emergency, namely at level of the network. We have started this, and we've already actually started getting positive feedback following this. I'd like to add two things now. To start with, this survey, the barometer, which was carried out end of 2025. Beginning of 2026, we added on something essential and quite unique, I believe, if we compare with other major French and European banks.
This is to say that at the same time, we're saying that we have many more transformations to come. We still wish to operate this transformation without letting go anyone. I think this is essential because some people obviously have an increasing anxiety when they consider the future within the Société Générale. The thing is that we, to make sure that within Société Générale, there will be opportunities for all, everywhere, wherever they are, whatever they do. I think, yeah, it's very important to consider this. We committed to this. We discussed this with employee representatives, with my teams, and so we are going to implement this transformation, and there's still a lot that needs to be done, taking seriously this objective to not let go anyone in the process. Finally, I want to be very clear on one thing. Is the transformation over?
No, certainly not. Far from it. Are we going to continue in the upcoming cycle in a very determined way to increase the efficiency of the company? Well, the answer is yes. Yes, we are going to continue, and we are very determined to do so, to increase, let's say, the performances of the company, because we are still one of the worst out there, and we cannot be one of the worst banks in terms of efficiency. It's just not possible. Are we going to continue to question ourselves, my teams, management, general management, and so on? Yes, obviously. All of us, and myself included, and senior management, we need to constantly question ourselves in order to ensure that we are successful in implementing these changes that we presented to you and that you entrusted us with.
Regarding the interaction with our clients, the quality of this interaction, quality of our customer service, especially in the world today, this has always been important. I think especially in this environment of hyper-competition, it is a life-threatening issue, let me put it this way. First thing, I consider the performance of the company as a whole, and then I go into more detail. You mentioned retail banking in France. I'll come back to this later on. Performances are not what we want them to be. Having said this, at EUR 27.3 billion in revenue, we have so many more activities than the network in France. If we consider this more specifically, more than half of the group's activity have great performances in terms of quality.
We'll get to retail banking in a moment because this is obviously so important, and this is a historic activity in France. Now, to start with, more than half of our activity has achieved some of the best scoring, if I may say, in terms of quality. Second, 60% of our scope, I may say, is improving compared to last year. Third, the network in France are experiencing some of the biggest changes. I'll put it differently. We actually just did something that we had never done before in France, merging two retail banks, two independent retail banks, who had been working independently for 20 years, Crédit du Nord and Société Générale. The idea that, and here again, I want to clarify this. The idea that just by a snap of fingers, we can achieve this in-depth transformation whilst achieving the results, that's just an illusion.
I'm not saying that it's not important, but I'm saying it's critical, and we are working on this. At some point, if we are going to concentrate on these in-depth transformations, this is not going to happen overnight. If I can turn the question back to you, had we not done the merger between Crédit du Nord and Société Générale, and by the way, in order to ensure that we preserve the quality of customer service, well, the answer is no, because we know that the results, the positive impact of what we did will be so much better than the contrary, had we not done it. I'm not going to load everything on the merger. This merger is important, obviously it is, and it is fundamental, especially to the environment in France.
There's a number of other items that need to be considered. Commercial, sales related, namely. It's important for the retail banking teams to obviously be the best in class when it comes to customer service, right? We are working on this. We've been working on this for quite some time, for more than a year now. Again, there's no magic here. It can't happen overnight. We are doing what needs to be done. Quality of tools that are made available to employees is also so important. I mentioned this earlier on. It's so important, especially for our guys who interact with the customers directly. We carried out a certain number of investments last year. There still is a lot that needs to be done, and we're going to continue to do what needs to be done. Finally, and I need to acknowledge this.
For various reasons, I could go on for hours, but I'll stop in a few seconds. We need to ensure this cultural change. When you commit to these huge transformations, mentioning here again, the merger. This was carried out with a lot of talent by the teams. Beyond the impact of these changes, there is obviously a lack of attention brought to customer service. This is obvious. If for four, five, six years, you concentrate on any other topic, if you do not do customer service, customer service is going to drop. There is something that we need to do, and that has to do with the culture, our culture. As often in life, major changes take time to occur, to be implemented.
As I was saying, if there is somebody who wants to speak, just raise your hand.
Thank you very much. Jean-Baptiste Bégat. During the subprime crisis, the banks ended up with some financial instrument, liquid financial. I had a question for you. Today, 15 years after the crisis, what happened to these assets? Were we able to make anything off of the backs of them?
You want to know what we made. I'll have to be able to answer you later. I don't have that figure in mind. Yes, like in other banks, we did have to use some of these assets, which were quite an important quantity. During the financial crisis, there were two issues. The value was much lower. We had to segregate them for that reason.
Also, this was worsened by the crisis itself, and this is why we had to liquidate them. To give you an example of what I'm saying. This doesn't really affect us because we sold them. What the creditors of Lehman was able to recuperate, 15, 20 years later, it's $0.84 on the dollar, I believe. It's very high in terms of what they were able to recuperate for Lehman Brothers. I believe, this is based on my memory, if my memory is correct. Our issue was different at the time. We had a massive risk, and the markets would have liked us to see abandon those things very quickly. We had to, like everyone, we had to optimize this leveraging, these sales.
We didn't have the luxury of waiting 20 years to recoup the maximum we could on our exposures. If you take a photo at the beginning of 2007 and a photo of where we had no more exposure for the bad bank before 2020, there's only losses in EUR millions. We are hoping to never find ourselves in that situation again.
Any other questions?
Hello, my name is Jean-Benoît Robitaillie from the CFTC. The board is proposing that we increase the remuneration of the general director by 85%. These arguments were not retained by the employees. In fact, we spoke about the fragility of these results. What conclusions does the board come to when it comes to the inequality of these treatments and the commitment of employees in the future?
I think we should look at page 48. This page that we looked at before during the presentation. So here you can see the logic that was put forward for this. Looking at what happened three years ago, the remuneration of the CEO was 30% lower than the average. We had a choice of either keeping it 30% lower or to adjust it. Looking at the results that we've achieved these past three years, we decided that it was appropriate to adjust it to meet the average. It's a very simple decision. It was based on a very simple analysis. It reflects the performance of the Société Générale over the last three years, and also the message that we want to send for the next three years. The policy of remuneration of the company that we have approved, all of this is part of this reasoning.
This is all the responsibility of the management, of course. What we are submitting to you today in terms of remuneration is a part of a series of arguments that all have their logic. Of course, there is a time for each decision. Three years ago, we made a very difficult decision because we decided to remunerate at minus 30%, I believe that after three years, it was fair to adapt it and to increase it to meet the average. There is logic behind this decision. It is rational, and it is what pushed us to make this decision and why we submitted this to you today. There you go.
[Non-English content]
Thank you very much. Now, number 10.
Thank you. Hello. Charles Luquet. I've been a shareholder for over 20 years. Thank you. Congratulations. Bravo, Krupa. You are the title of the CAC 40, and you have managed to do the impossible. You have turned around the markets, and you've made markets believe in the Société Générale. Two questions on your method, just to be reassured for the future. Number one, the Krupa method, managing potential risks. These risks that could be very expensive. I'm thinking about Kerviel. I'm thinking of the rates coverage. What do you do? What is your method for avoiding this type of risk that could make us end up in a bad situation, like in the past? The second question, what is the Krupa method for managing investments? Could we please know the key points to know whether we should invest or not?
I read recently that, when it comes to financing, you have principal criteria on a checklist. Are you close to the Warren Buffett criteria, rather, method when you invest? The third question, SG versus BNP. What are your three biggest arguments, being as objective as possible? This is, of course, to convince hesitant investors in investing in SG. Finally, I would like to thank you Krupa, because thanks to the increase in SG shares, I have received a prize this year.
[Non-English content]
Thank you very much. Yes, I'm smiling, but your questions are very serious, and they're very important for the company, and so I'm going to try and answer them. The first, regarding risk management, I'm going to start by repeating what I said before. You have to start off with humility. As soon as you lose that's when things are going to start to deteriorate. That's the first pillar, and I think that Pierre and I know this. We've been working together for a long time. I had the chance to work with him in the past and was able to learn with him and learn how to manage risks for our largest clients. First of all, we need to have humility, and second, we have to have experience. I think this is for most industries, but in banks, experience is colossal.
It's super important. We're talking about criteria, taking risks, how we get credits. More you have seen situations in a 20 or 30-year career, better you will be prepared, where you'll have a better reference point to be able to imagine what could happen, what could go wrong. This is kind of the beauty of our job. Whenever somebody wants to do something very important, and they're super optimistic, and our client is super optimistic, they want to buy a home, they want to buy a bicycle, a company that wants to do something. They are super optimistic, but we need to be super pessimistic, and we also have to be ready to commit. Yes, this is why we have these stress tests, and we always have to be able to simulate what could go wrong. We need to imagine scenarios, the worst-case scenario.
Of course, you have to look at all the possible scenarios, unfortunately, today, we have seen that extreme situations do occur. You need to look at these different scenarios and decide whether yes or no, we can manage these situations. If we can't, then how can we adjust it to be able to take on that risk? This way, we are prepared for difficult situations. I hope that this gives you an idea of what our job is day to day, what goes behind every decision that is made when we are managing portfolios and risks. Now my third point, concentration. I think if there's something that we have learned throughout our careers is that the biggest issue is when you are too concentrated on one thing.
For example, the subprime itself wasn't such a huge issue, but if you have billions of it, then it becomes an issue. This paper was toxic, and the toxicity of it hadn't been taken into consideration. We are very careful about this. We really are careful when it comes about where we are concentrating our efforts. The third point, a point that we are responsible for here and the Board of Directors is responsible for because we validate strategies and whatnot. We have to have a buffer when it comes to regulatory measures. This is one of the reasons that we decided to increase our ratio from 12: 13, because in banks, you're going to lose banks. We are going to lose money. This is part of our job.
Some intellectuals will even say, If you don't lose money, it's because you're not optimizing your activity. That's not really our opinion, but some say this. Having 100 base points of buffer, it means having as much capacity to be able to absorb major shocks without you shareholders become diluted because we have lost money. This buffer is critical for you. If you're asking the question, if you're asking why our shares have reacted in the way that they have reacted, well, it's because we had this ratio. It removed this dilution risk that a shareholder holds. Finally, the base costs and the profitability of a company, that is part of this structural resilience. This is easily understood. When you have EUR 3.5 billion or EUR 4 billion published revenue, this means that it's billions more to be able to absorb a crisis. Cost.
All of this that I'm talking about is part of a resilience that a banking industry has. We really try to focus on all of this. Now when you talk about my method for investment, it's very simple. I don't really think you can compare me to Warren Buffett, and I think our jobs are completely different. We take risks first. This is something that we do on a daily basis for our clients. The company also invests in business and development of Bourso Bank and fusion and acquisitions. The criteria is very simple. Same criteria as would be yours. Is this capital, this investment, given the risks that we are going to take, is it going to be profitable in comparison with another alternative? Really, basically, is it profitable or not?
Is it diluting or is it creating value? That is the heart of how we make these decisions. Of course, there's a number of different indicators based on the different situations. Now, SG versus BNP. It's a little bit difficult for me to answer. I can't really speak publicly about this. I will only say that if you look at a number of different data points, you'll have answers regarding the last three years. We are going to do everything possible so that nothing changes in this regard.
Now, number six.
Yes, hello. Thank you very much for this presentation and for excellent results in 2025. I had a question regarding the ROTE. 2025, you said it was a good year for ROTE, with 10.2%, and it was improved by disposals.
Net gains from disposals, which happened on five subsidiaries, for a total of around EUR 300 million. If we exclude those, the ROTE is much less. In 2025, we had a very good third quarter, so ROTE was 10.7%, but it went down in the fourth quarter to 9.5% because of the rates coverage contracts that ended. First quarter of 2026, we have a rate that is very good, 11.7%. My question is, are there elements of disposals? What are the elements of disposals? Is there more organic growth, which, without the disposals, would allow us to improve on our ROTE performance? I also had a question regarding the increase in remuneration for the CEO.
If ever we are unhappy with the 2026 ROTE, if it's below 10, is there a way for us to perhaps go back on our decision of increasing the salary by 85%, at least on the fixed salary? Finally, BNP said during their general assembly that there's a bunch of positions that are being rotated. It's a question regarding the competencies. First of all, there is a fixed salary and a variable salary. Of course, if results at the end of the year are not favorable, that will have an effect on the variable salary.
Yes, of course, ROTEs is one of the elements that we take into consideration.
Now another question regarding the ROTE. All the figures that you cited were correct.
Yes, this is something that we have explained very well in all of our financial communications.
First of all, more generally, what explains these changes quarter-to-quarter? Well, in 2025, there were a bunch of variables that had to do with our transformation. We spoke about this in the CMD of 2023. We were spending EUR 1 billion of CTA for financing our transformation. At the beginning of the cycle, we spent a lot, then little by little until 2026. There are some structural phenomenon that have to do with this transformation. That's my first point. Of course, it's not also linear going from quarter-to-quarter. The second point, in a bank, it's very seasonal. Quarter one, quarter two, they are quarters that are very active, much higher, and it's because the market is much more active.
You will have a ROE at the beginning of the year that is going to be very high and will allow us to reach the objectives by the end of the year. For example, first quarter, we were at 11 and something of ROTE. We also paid an annual tax in quarter one, which is usually above 12. What you have to keep in mind is that there's this seasonality, a natural seasonality to our activities. This changes throughout the year, but as you can see, at the end of the year, we have still been meeting our objectives. Our goal is to have a ROTE above 10%. There is nothing to be worried about on this point for now.
When it comes to the competence question, the way that you need to think about this is, you have to think of this system. The 1,800 positions that we spoke about during our communication, this is a net effect. The skills sponsorship, the question about the skills sponsorship, this is where the training happens. We've had this whole entire mechanism put into place to help employees get training if they want to change positions or jobs, and to be able to enable them and make the internal workflow more fluid. We want to do this to not do what we have done in the past, which is to have these plans when we basically lay people off and have to pay them.
We have thought it to be more favorable to keep them within the company and to help them to find other positions within the company. Perhaps we have to have smaller teams in one area, but we can move those people to another area in the bank. That's the process that we have committed to.
Number 8.
Hello. The transmission shock was about EUR 9 million. How will the Société Générale.
I need to apologize i didn't hear your question. You're touching on an essential question. When you have excess resources, we have communicated a lot on this topic. When you have an available capital, there's three ways to invest it, either in organic growth, either in inorganic growth, or by redistributing it in dividends or in other ways to the shareholders.
You have to be very rational and almost cold when you make this decision. If you want to do organic growth, you will put it in an Excel sheet, and you will compare it to what a shareholder would get or in a share buyback or in dividends. This is what you first have to do. You have to look at what is most profitable. There is a concept, an Anglo-Saxon concept that I really like, it's called stewardship of capital. It's difficult to translate this into French, but basically what this means is that we, here, we don't own the capital of the company. You are the owners of this capital. This is very important how a company and a board of directors, we really cannot ever forget that we don't own this money.
We are just managing it. It's because you trust us. We have to manage this money with your interests in mind and not with our fantasy or our own egos in mind. We need to put this into a kind of an Excel file and try to see what is most profitable for the shareholder. Of course, if it was that simple, you wouldn't need us. We have to look into this a little bit closer. We need to constantly be thinking about the strategy of the company. Where do we have the best interests in developing? Also in your interest long-term, where should we grow in efficiency? Where should we improve the quality of our product?
Of course, I'm giving you a very obvious answer to your question, but in 2023, we made a decision, even during these very lean periods, we had to invest in the development of BoursoBank because we have a strategic asset that has a huge value over time. Of course, when we put it in the Excel file, it didn't really make sense right away, but we realized that over time, it would be very, very valuable to us. It has a capacity of development that could end up being one of the biggest banks in France. First of all, it needs to be a very rational and mathematical decision, and then we have to think about it through a strategic viewpoint. Of course, this also has taken into consideration the specific context of the companies that we're talking about.
Today certain decisions are very difficult, but we also have our own assets. For example, Ayvens, BoursoBank, and these are assets that we have that other banks do not have.
Thank you very much. François Prince from Société Générale. I just want to speak about the employer barometer, and I'm surprised that you haven't spoken about the work from home, because that's one of the reasons why we had a very bad score. For the CEO. How are you going to be able to work at TotalEnergies and at SG?
Now, working from home. I don't really know what your question is for the working from home. I can't really answer a question that you haven't really asked. Of course, in the barometer, there is an element related to work from home. It is important.
The choice that I have made, however, is to not use that as a scapegoat. I could have just said to you, for example, I could just say that the barometer is not really useful. Is not a good measure of other very specific and deeper things, and say that the issues that we have with the barometer is just because of the work from home. I'm making the choice of being more sincere in the way that I answer you. Yes, working from home is a decision that we have made, and I've already said it in the past. It comes from the will to harmonize things within the bank. There are 6,000 people who will have two times more days of working from home than they had in the past.
Yes, a lot of people, specifically those who work at the headquarters, will have a reduction of working from home days, some two or one day a week, so 20%. On the same time, there are 6,000 people in France that will have twice as much as they had in the past. That's something that's important to keep that in mind.
There are two other reasons. For 30 years now, I've been working in many different businesses. I started perhaps not at the very bottom of the ladder, but not far from the bottom of the ladder. I occupied many different positions in front office and management in different countries. I think I have a rather extensive experience of not only my job, but the jobs that we have within Société Générale, right? I am convinced that we need, especially in an environment of change, right, of competition, and by the way, I mentioned this also, an environment of technological change also. We need to work on site. We need to have the interaction, because this is how we will make the good decisions, the best decisions. It's everything that is not bureaucracy, everything that is not technological.
That's the human factor, basically, that will make difference. Finally, over 100,000 employees work for Société Générale all over the world. I don't have the precise figures, but thousands of employees, because they decide to retire or because they decide to go work elsewhere, and then thousands of hires of young people every year. I haven't found, my team have not found a solution to pass on in an efficient way, the culture of a company, the history of the company, the historical culture of the company, and all the skills, the excellency, the expertise that are so important in our business to ensure the high level of performance. Once again, in this environment of change, right? In the environment of change in our business, the economy and technology. Taking all of this in mind, we decided that we needed to make this decision.
Yeah, we assume this decision. Again, we move from two to one, so it's still 20% of work time that can be done from home. Also, as I said, 6,000 people who have seen their time of work from home double. Now, regarding the EUR 20 million fine, I'll be very brief. This is an ongoing inquiry covering 2018- 2022. We tried to improve what needed to be improved. There is also a certain number of aspects that are still being looked into as to what should be applied in terms of the rules and regulations. Perhaps we will decide to appeal. I don't know. We'll see. We have collective processes, individual processes to deal with these issues. A company of over 100,000 employees managing EUR 1.3 trillion all over the world.
Regarding TotalEnergies, this is quite standard in France and in Europe for executives of companies to be a member of one board if they are executives. Why? Because this, in a way, creates value. Well, I hope it will create value for the company I will be joining as a director, but also in the business that we work in. As a banker, it's not a bad thing to be in touch and closely in contact with other businesses and, more specifically in my case, with Société Générale, with TotalEnergies, to learn from their experience, to learn from what they do. This is rather a standard practice. There is an interest for TotalEnergies.
There is an interest for our company, and our board is very happy to benefit from the experience of other executives who are directors of Société Générale and who allow us to consider different points of view. It makes, I believe, the discussions that we have with the board of better quality. If I may add one thing, the point of view of the board who approved this choice, I like statistics. I looked at the current executives who've been in their position for three years, 70% are board members of other companies, and half of these are CEOs. I'd say that actually over 80% of the executives do this common practice.
Okay, one or two last questions, perhaps.
Hello, I'm Juliette Knighton. I represent SFOC, an NGO, Solutions for Our Climate.
The board's response to our written question on methane carriers, the total emissions are increasing for the company. The questions, anyway, are, has Société Générale fixed a threshold regarding emissions of LNG maritime freight? Do you believe that the IMO objectives is in line with the 1.5 degree objective? Your sector policy on gas is limiting the financing of oil fields and LNG terminals. Would it also justify stopping the financing of projects such as gas production, but not the transport of this gas?
Right. Well, perhaps I could say two words about intensity regarding the overall emission. We try to consider intensity. Why? Well, because in a certain number of sectors, namely the one at hand here, we believe that intensity is a better criteria. Why?
Because in all these sectors, we do not try to lend less money, but we want to lend the money in a better way. If you take in criteria the overall amount of emissions, you could actually reduce the amount of emissions, not because you are more virtuous, but because you just reduced your portfolio. What we are trying to do is not reducing our activity in this sector. This is a sector that we want to continue to develop. What we want to do is help our clients to be greener in a way in their approach. Well, sorry. Same portfolio, the intensity is decreasing because as we go on, practices are improving and are more environmentally friendly, let's say.
If we take the 10 sectors for which we have a certain number of trajectory objectives, in most cases, intensity is the criteria that was chosen. In some sectors, we do not only have an intensity criteria, but also objectives in terms of nominal, the oil upstream, so that's oil and gas production, and coal. For all the other sectors, it's the intensity criteria that we consider, and we believe it is the right one. Obviously, I understand the second part of the question, which is to say, well, isn't it paradoxical to say that, okay, you're trying to be conservative, or rather exclude a certain number of LNG infrastructures, but not the methane carriers. Regarding the infrastructures, well, there are two things that we consider.
When there is also a production, because this also needs to be considered, there is another objective that we've set ourselves to not lend to oil and gas upstream projects. When there is oil and gas upstream linked to the LNG infrastructure, we no longer finance them. It's non-conventional gas for which we also have exclusion criteria. For the methane or LNG carriers, we don't have these exclusion criteria. Right. In other words, what we do is that we have this, rather a global policy with the intensity criteria. Okay, I'll take one last question, perhaps. Second row.
Hello.
Hello. Philippe Rocou. I'm a shareholder and a Bourso client. One of your branches, which is at the end of my question, let me put it this way. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much for the presentations, for the forecasts, for the new roadmap, which you've been working on since 2023. I am going to be talking about very specific points here regarding Société Générale and their shareholders now. The issue at hand. Treezor was acquired in 2019. Is this still an asset of Société Générale if this company has been sold? Because as of January, this was the only information that I could find. What is the financial structure of the sale? Because this company has had a certain number of sanctions or penalties because of its losses.
The accounts that have been opened within Société Générale without any financial assets being paid into these accounts because they are being paid to the Treezor company. Right. I think that these funds are being managed by thousands of people for SDC. This does not comply with the French law of 1970. Société Générale is managing the million euros of these SDCs in this Treezor branch, which I would like to know if you have sold or not. Thank you very much. Okay, I will try to answer this in a very short manner. My answer is this. When you sell an asset, you sign an agreement, a protocol, a memorandum, and then you close. Right? We signed, and we announced the sale of these assets with the 15 others that I mentioned earlier on.
There is regulated activity, so there is a process and with obviously the various authorities being involved. Now, we are not going to obviously mention anything about the financial structure of this operation because we are not entitled to do so. Not much that I can add regarding this. We are still owners of this company, and the rules that apply to this company in terms of accounts, I don't have the technicalities, to be honest. But any regulation that applies to this asset in France or anywhere else applies, right? We obviously abide by the rules and regulations that a normal financial institution, so nothing special or specific to add. The operation is still ongoing.
Right. Well, thank you very much. Let's now proceed to the next part, namely the presentation and a vote on resolutions. Patrick, you're on.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Ladies and gentlemen. I'll now outline the purpose of each of the resolutions proposed by the Board of Directors. The full text of each resolution is included in the meeting pack. Voting on the resolutions will take place using the cards provided at the entrance. Please do not forget to confirm your vote. The results of the votes on the resolutions will be displayed on the screen. Resolution by resolution. Quorum is at 64.04%, corresponding to our 406 hundred million shares held by 30,000 shareholders represented out of the total full of shares carrying voting rights. First resolution is the approval of the consolidated and annual account for the 2025 financial year. [Non-English content ] Do not forget to validate your votes. Vote is closed. [Non-English content ] Approved. 99.10% in favor. Second resolution is approval of the company accounts for 2025.
The vote is open. [ Non-English content ] Vote is over. [ Non-English content ] Resolution is approved. 99.3%. Third resolution is to approve the amount of the EUR 1.61 per share, which EUR 0.61 has already been paid as an interim dividend. The remaining EUR 1.00 will be paid on the 3rd of June, 2026. The voting is open. [ Non-English content ] Don't forget to validate. [ Non-English content ] Voting is closed. [ Non-English content ] Resolution adopted. The fourth resolution is the approval of the statutory auditor's report on regulated agreements. Voting is open. Sorry, report does not mention any arrangements. [ Non-English content ] Please remember to confirm your vote. [ Non-English content ] Voting is closed. [ Non-English content ] Resolution adopted, 99.79% of votes. Fifth resolution is the remuneration policy of the chairman of the board of directors.
This policy has remained unchanged. Voting is open. Please do not forget to confirm your vote. Voting is closed. Resolution is adopted at 93.48% votes in favor. Sixth resolution, remuneration policy of the chief executive officer and the deputy chief executive officer. This policy was presented and explained. Voting is open. Please remember to confirm your vote. Resolution adopted, 73.7% votes in favor. Seventh resolution, remuneration policy for directors, was presented by Lorenzo Bini Smaghi. Voting is open. Please confirm your vote. Voting is closed. Resolution is adopted, 93.63% votes in favor. Eighth resolution. Lorenzo Bini Smaghi the approval of the increase of the directors. Voting is open.
Voting is closed. Resolution adopted with 92.64% votes in favor. The ninth resolution is the approval of information relating to the remuneration of each of the corporate officers represented by Annette Messemer. Voting is open. Please remember to confirm your vote. Voting is closed. Resolution adopted, 92.7% votes in favor. The 10th resolution is the approval of the remuneration paid during 2025 or awarded for 2025 to Mr. Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, the remuneration remains unchanged. Voting is open. Please remember to confirm your vote. Voting is closed. Resolution adopted, 93% votes in favor. 11th resolution. This is the approval of the remuneration paid during the year 2025 or in respect of 2025 to Mr. Slawomir Krupa. Voting is open. Please remember to confirm. Voting is closed. Resolution adopted, 91.44% votes in favor. 12th resolution.
This is the approval of the remuneration paid during the year 2025 to Mr. Pierre Palmieri. Voting is open. Please remember to confirm your vote. Voting is closed. Resolution adopted, 91.96% votes in favor. Resolution number 13. This is an advisory opinion on the remuneration paid in 2025 to regulated people. Voting is open. Please remember to confirm your vote. The voting is closed. Resolution is adopted, 97.84% votes in favor. 14th resolution. This is the ratification of the co-optation of Mr. Laura Barlow as director, and the renewal of her term of office for four years. Voting is open. Please remember to confirm your vote. Voting is now closed. Madame Barlow adopted 98.6% of votes. 15th resolution, appointment of Dame Clara Furse as a director. Voting is now open. Please remember to confirm. Voting is now closed. Dame Clara Furse is appointed with 98.79% of votes.
16th resolution, reappointment of Mr. Jérôme Contamine as director. Voting is now open. Please confirm your vote. Voting is now closed. Mr. Contamine is reappointed with a 95.98% of votes. Resolution 17, re-election of Mrs. Diane Côté as a director. Voting is now open. Please remember to confirm. Voting is now closed. Madame Côté is re-elected with 96.6% of votes. Resolution 18. This is the authorization to buy back shares. This is the same resolution as every year, duration 18 months. Share capital maximum purchase price increase from EUR 75 to EUR 150 per share. Voting is now open.
Please remember to confirm. Voting is now closed. Resolution is adopted with a 98.39% of votes. Resolution 19. This is the extraordinary part, and this is the delegation to the board of directors to maintain the preemptive subscription rights. Voting is now open. Please remember to confirm your vote. Voting is now closed.
Resolution adopted with a 94.17% of votes. 20th resolution, delegation to the Board of Directors to increase share capital with the removal of preemptive subscription rights with a limit of 10% share capital. Voting is now open. Please remember to confirm. Voting is now closed. Resolution is adopted with 95.37% of votes. Resolution 21. This is the delegation to the Board of Directors to increase the share capital in consideration for contribution in kind with a limit of 10% of the share capital. Voting is now opened. Please remember to confirm your vote. Voting is now closed. Resolution is adopted with 95.17% of votes.
Now, resolution 22, delegation to the board of directors to issue super subordinated bonds convertible into shares if the group has a CET of less than 5.125%. Voting is open. Don't forget to confirm. Voting is closed. The resolution was adopted at 93.5%. 23rd resolution, authorization of capital increases reserved to employees, cap 1.5% of share capital, discount 20%. Voting is open. Don't forget to confirm. Voting is closed. The resolution is adopted at 98.79%. 24th resolution, delegation to the Board of Directors to make free allocations of performance shares to regulated and equivalent persons, limit 1.15% of the share capital of which 0.5% is for executive directors. Voting is open. Don't forget to confirm. Voting is closed. The resolution is adopted at 95.66%. 25th resolution, delegation to the b oard to allocate the charge of performance to individuals, unlisted and similar. Voting is open. Don't forget to confirm.
Voting is closed. Resolution is adopted at 98.29%. 26th resolution, authorization granted to the Board of Directors to reduce the share capital by canceling shares, limit 10% of the share capital for a period of 24 months. Voting is open. Don't forget to confirm. Voting is closed. Resolution is adopted at 98.03%. 27th resolution, amendment to the articles of association, Article seven in the event of co-optation, a director whose co-optation is ratified by the Annual General Meeting shall be re-elected for a term of four years. Voting is open. Don't forget to confirm. Voting is closed. Resolution is adopted at 99.67%. 28th resolution, amendment to the article of association, article seven. The director representing employee shareholders shall have two alternates of different genders instead of just one. Voting is open. Don't forget to confirm. Voting is closed. Resolution is adopted at 99.59%.
Article 29, amendment to the articles of association, Article 13, removal of the possibility of holding the offices of Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer concurrently. Voting is open. Don't forget to confirm. Voting is closed. Resolution is adopted at 99.59%. 30th resolution on proxies. Voting is open. Don't forget to confirm. Voting is closed. The resolution is adopted at 99.73%. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for voting, and thank you for your trust. Next year, on Thursday the 13th of May, here at the CNIT, we will see you again for the next general assembly. Please don't forget to return your tablets.