Société Générale (GLE) shareholders unanimously approve 2025 accounts, dividend
Société Générale's Combined General Meeting, held on 27 May 2026, saw the unanimous adoption of all resolutions proposed by the Board of Directors. Key approvals included the bank's annual and consolidated accounts for the 2025 financial year, alongside the determination of the dividend per share. The total dividend was set at €1.61 per share, a figure that incorporates an interim payment of €0.61 per share already distributed on 9 October 2025.
The remaining balance of €1.00 per share is scheduled for payment from 3 June 2026. Shares will begin trading ex-dividend on 1 June 2026. The unanimous approval of these resolutions at the general meeting underscores confidence in the company's strategy and management over the past year.
On the markets, Société Générale (GLE) shares are trading at €69.50 on 28 May 2026, representing a 1.8% decline. This movement follows a week of varied trading for the French bank, which included a 4.5% rise on Monday after the publication of what were deemed robust quarterly results. The bank also recently launched its 33rd global employee share ownership programme on 28 May 2026.
Why Société Générale's Shares Are Adjusting for Its Dividend
Société Générale operates as a cornerstone of the French and wider European financial landscape. At its heart, the bank provides a comprehensive suite of financial services, ranging from everyday retail banking for individuals and smaller enterprises to sophisticated investment banking, financing, and asset management for larger corporations and institutions. It generates its income primarily through the interest margins earned on loans, fees and commissions from its various banking services, and activities within financial markets.
The specific movement in Société Générale's share price today, 28 May 2026, is largely explained by the upcoming ex-dividend date. Following its Annual General Meeting yesterday, 27 May 2026, the bank confirmed a total dividend of €1.61 per share for the 2025 financial year. While an interim payment of €0.61 was already distributed on 9 October 2025, the remaining balance of €1.00 per share is due to be paid from 3 June 2026. Crucially, shares will begin trading without the right to this dividend, known as "ex-dividend", from 1 June 2026.
This anticipation of the shares trading ex-dividend is what is weighing on the stock price. The market typically adjusts the share price downwards by an amount roughly equivalent to the dividend that new purchasers will no longer receive. Consequently, Société Générale is currently trading at €69.50, down 1.8% from its previous close of €70.79.
To understand this mechanism, consider buying a ticket to a concert that includes a free souvenir programme. If you buy the ticket before a certain date, you get the programme. But if you buy it after that date, the programmes have already been distributed, and the ticket price is logically reduced because that extra benefit is no longer included.
Société Générale
Société Générale Société anonyme provides banking and financial services to individuals, businesses, and institutional investors in Europe and internationally. It operates through three segments: Retail Banking in France, International Retail Banking and Financial Services, and Global Banking and Investor Solutions. It offers retail banking services, such as consumer credit, vehicle leasing and fleet management, financing of professional equipment, and long-term leasing activities under the Societe Generale, Credit du Nord, and Boursorama brand names; and insurance products, including home, vehicle, family, health, and mortgage insurance. The company also provides corporate and investment banking, securities, market and investor, financing and consulting, and asset management and private banking services. In addition, it offers security brokerage, equipment finance, cash management, payment services, factoring, and supply chain financing services. The company serves through a network of 1849 branches. Société Générale Société anonyme was founded in 1864 and is based in Paris, France.