The Paris-headquartered banking group has released its full year results for 2016.

Private banking assets under management at Societe Generale stood at €116 billion ($123.8 billion) at the end of December 2016, a gain of 2.7 per cent from the end of the previous year, while net banking income at the unit dropped 7.1 per cent year-on-year due to a “wait-and-see” market, the French lender said today.

Net banking income in the private banking arm of the firm weighed in at €208 million; gross margin remained at a “healthy level”, the bank said, at 106 basis points.

Societe Generale’s asset and wealth management business logged net banking income of €1.001 billion in 2016, down 7.7 per cent year-on-year, a decline propelled by an “uncertain markets environment with a low level of activity,” the group said.

The assets under management of Lyxor, the investment business of Societe Generale that operates in sectors such as exchange traded funds, stood at €106 billion, up 2.4 per cent from the same period of 2015. This was driven by “rising markets and strong inflow in structured product segments and exchange-traded funds,” the bank said. Lyxor’s revenues for 2016 were €161 million, down 11.5 per cent year-on-year, while net banking income at the unit rose 29.4 per cent, totalling €44 million.

For the Societe Generale group as a whole, net banking income – excluding non-economic items - was €25.7 billion, up 2.7 per cent from 2015.

“In an economic environment that is less buoyant and much more demanding on the regulatory front, we have simplified our banking model, optimised capital allocation and continued to invest in the businesses of the future, as we undertook to do in our 2014-2016 strategic plan,” said chief executive Frederic Oudea.

He continued: “These efforts enable us to generally comply with the trajectory of the strategic and financial objectives set in 2014: we have demonstrated our potential for growth and operational excellence, and there has been a significant improvement in our structural profitability. The balance sheet has improved and all our regulatory capital and liquidity ratios are above the regulators’ requirements.

“Based on these solid foundations, Societe Generale intends to continue with the adaptation and digital transformation of its businesses, simplify its organisational set-up and roll out its Culture and Conduct programme in 2017. The Group is also preparing a new stage in its development, with the presentation at the end of the year of a medium-term strategic plan testifying to our ability to provide even more value for our customers and shareholders.”