Société Générale completed its €1.5 billion extraordinary share buyback after repurchasing 19,871,418 shares. The French bank said the shares would subsequently be cancelled. The programme began on 3 August and concluded with purchases made through 30 September. Completion was announced on 1 October.
The buyback was announced alongside Société Générale’s second-quarter results in late July. It was authorised under a shareholder resolution approved at the bank’s combined general meeting on 27 May. French law limits cancellation under the programme to 10% of share capital over a 24-month period. The final three days of purchases covered 1,446,402 shares at a weighted average price of €71.0843.
CAPITAL RETURN COMPLETED
The programme was structured specifically for cancellation rather than employee remuneration or treasury use. Repurchasing and cancelling shares reduces the number outstanding, increasing each remaining share’s proportionate interest if other factors are unchanged. The bank’s regulated disclosure provides the completed volume and the transaction detail for the closing purchases.
MarketScreener separately reported the completion and placed it alongside a €0.75-per-share interim dividend for the first half. That dividend was scheduled for payment on 7 October. Together, the two measures form part of the bank’s current capital-distribution programme.
LONGER-TERM DISTRIBUTION PLAN
Société Générale’s strategy through 2029 envisages ordinary distributions split equally between cash dividends and share buybacks, according to MarketScreener. The bank expects those ordinary distributions to exceed €13 billion over 2026–2029. It has also identified potential distributions of excess capital above a 13% common equity tier one ratio.
The next items for investors are the formal cancellation of the repurchased shares and third-quarter results scheduled for 28 October. Those disclosures should show the updated share count and capital position after the programme. Further distributions will depend on earnings, capital generation and the bank’s stated ratio threshold.