SocGen could unveil cap increase to repay state - report

PARIS Oct 5 (Reuters) - French bank Societe Generale (SOGN.PA) could announce a capital increase this week to enable it to repay state support provided during the financial crisis, Les Echos reported in a preview of its Tuesday edition.

No further details were immediately available.

A spokeswoman for Societe Generale declined to comment on the article in Les Echos.

BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA), France's biggest bank by market value, last week announced a capital increase to raise 4.3 billion euros ($6.29 billion) as it seeks to reimburse the French state early on its 5.1 billion euro capital advance.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Monday that a second large French bank was following BNP in repaying assistance provided by the state.

He gave no details on the bank concerned, but an official in the office of junior business minister Herve Novelli said he was referring to Credit Mutuel. [ID:nL5708088]

Societe Generale re-iterated last Tuesday that it could consider starting to repay advances by the French state from early 2010. The bank said then it would keep an eye out for market developments to determine the timing of the move. ($1=.6840 Euro) (Reporting by James Regan; Editing Bernard Orr)