At the beginning of the year, Société générale was forced to lower its ambitions. The bank has reduced the scope in the investment bank and put in place a restructuring plan. The results for the second quarter show a strengthening of its financial base in spite of the profits decline 14 %, to 1.05 billion euros.

LE FIGARO. - Observers are struggling to read your strategy. Your results of what to reassure?

Frédéric OUDÉA. - I think, and the markets ' reaction to the shows. We have reached in the first half, and much more quickly than anticipated, our solvency target with a capital ratio "hard" of 12 %. We have managed to achieve this thanks to our results and a good control of our allocation of capital. We are reaping the first fruits of the program optimization of our business portfolio. And re-focusing our market activities on our areas of strength.

The president of the bank ...