PARIS (Reuters) - Shares in Societe Generale (PA:SOGN) and BNP Paribas (PA:BNPP) both fell sharply on Friday, as traders and analysts expressed disappointment with a weak-looking set of first-quarter results from the French banks.
SocGen shares were down 4.9 percent while BNP Paribas fell 2.7 percent.
SocGen reported a higher-than-expected quarterly net income, amid a top management reshuffle happening in the middle of discussions with the U.S. authorities over litigation issues, but its group revenues missed forecasts.
SocGen's corporate and investment bank (CIB) was a particularly weak spot.
"Disappointing performance in Q1. Stock under pressure due to a lower performance in CIB, the unexpected change of management is not helpful at this stage and no finalization of the litigation," Jefferies' analysts wrote on SocGen's results.
BNP Paribas showed a similar picture to SocGen, with BNP Paribas also impacted by sluggish fixed income trading.
"A difficult CIB quarter but not a bad performance," wrote UBS analysts on the BNP Paribas results.