SocGen sees 3rd-quarter net profit despite Lehman

PARIS (Reuters) - Societe Generale (SOGN.PA) said it remained profitable in the third quarter at the net level, even when including charges related to the collapse of investment bank Lehman Brothers.

France's second-biggest listed bank said profit would be about 1 billion euros ($1.36 billion) for the quarter excluding nonrecurring costs.

"Globally, and after taking into account the depreciations linked to Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy, Societe Generale Group will post a positive Group net income for the third quarter 2008," it said in a statement.

SocGen's unexpected trading update came just hours after France unveiled a 360 billion euro rescue plan to prop up its banking system and help cash-hungry companies.

The bank made clear it had not taken any losses on its structured products which would call for a recapitalization, repeating a statement made earlier on Monday that attempted to quash speculation that it had suffered losses.

"This should reassure the market," said Alain Dupuis at French brokerage Oddo Securities, who expected a third-quarter profit before nonrecurring items of 1.06 billion euros.

SocGen said its third-quarter estimate did not take into account regulators' current discussions on matters such as the classification of securities portfolios and "mark to market" of assets, which it said could have a positive impact.

It said its tier 1 (Basel II) ratio -- a measure of its financial robustness -- was higher than 8 percent at the end of September, in line with its full-year target.

"It is rather positive, especially after the very bad month of August on the markets," a London-based banking analyst said.

"It should ease concerns - especially the tier 1 ratio news," he added.

The French bank said it had continued to reduce its assets at risk and strengthened their hedging levels during the third quarter, but it stressed the depreciations would have a limited impact on results.

Finally, it said that in Russia its activities benefited from a solid financial structure, "enabling them to resist the current market turmoil without significant impact on their financial results."

SocGen will publish its full third-quarter results on November 6 before the Paris market opens.

(Reporting by Astrid Wendlandt and Yann Leguernigou; editing by John Wallace)