Net income at the private banking arm of French bank Société Genérale was €213 million ($268 million) in 2008, almost flat at a fall of just 0.9 per cent from the previous year, while assets under management at this business section fell on the back of weaker markets.

Assets under management at the private bank fell to €66.9 billion at the end of 2008 from €76.9 billion at the end of the previous year; falls in markets removed €14.2 billion from the end-2008 figure, SocGen said in a statement.

Clients put in a net €300 million into the private bank in the final three months of last year and a total of €4.5 billion for the whole of 2008, showing that there was a significant slowdown in the inflow rate as last year came to a close. During last year, private banking made revenues of €839 million, a rise of 2 per cent on the year, while operating expenses grew by 1.9 per cent.

SocGen said the private bank’s contribution to the overall group performance was stable compared with 2007’s results.

Meanwhile, across the banking group as a whole, SocGen said its net income rose to €2.01 billion in 2008, more than double the €947 million figure for 2007 on a comparable basis.

SocGen’s net income for last year showed a rise in part because SocGen booked a net loss in 2007 when the bank logged trading losses on positions built up by rogue trader Jerome Kerviel. SocGen made a loss in 2007 of €4.911 billion.

Within its asset management section, SocGen booked a net loss of €258 million, compared with a net income of €169 million.