PARIS, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- France's second-largest listed bank Societe Generale on Friday announced the sale of its Greek subsidiary Geniki Bank to Piraeus Bank with the aim to streamline its business in the face of persistent turbulent financial markets.
In a statement posted on its website, the French bank said "it has entered into a definitive agreement with Piraeus Bank to sell its entire 99.08 percent stake in its Greek subsidiary" for 1 million euros (1.3 million U.S. dollars).
"This decision is part of the Societe Generale Group strategy to accelerate its transformation by refocusing its activities and strengthening its balance sheet, with a specific focus on risk management," said Bernardo Sanchez-Incera, the bank's deputy CEO.
With the transaction, to be finalized by the end of this year, Societe Generale is expected to register a 100 million loss in its third quarter net income. However, the bank denied the move would have a significant impact on the bank's capital ratios.
Societe Generale's announcement came after Credit Agricole, one of the largest French banks, said it offered for sale its Greek subsidiary Emporiki to Alpha Bank.
French banks were at the eye of a financial storm due to their exposures to aid packages offered to debt-ridden European neighbors that fuelled market worries.
During Friday's closing session, the heavyweight banking sector fell by 2.4 percent with shares of Societe Generale closing in red at 26.10 euros, down by 2.52 percent.
French biggest bank BNP Paribas and Credit Agricole were down by 2.36 percent and 2.2 percent respectively. (1 euro = 1.31 U.S. dollars)
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