PARIS (Reuters) - Societe Generale (PA:SOGN), France's second-largest bank, said on Tuesday it is aiming for 3 percent annual revenue growth over the next three years, helped by retail banking in Eastern Europe, Russia and Africa.
SocGen confirmed its ambitions in Russia after it took a hit from a slide in the value of assets there following unrest in Ukraine between government forces and pro-Russian separatists.
Societe Generale plans to finalise a 1.45 billion euro (1.18 billion pounds) cost-cutting programme in 2015 and cap expenses growth at 1 percent a year in a bid to improve profitability in an environment of slow growth in Western Europe.
In its strategic plan, SocGen is targeting return on equity (ROE) of above 10 percent by end-2016 versus an underlying ROE of 8.4 percent in 2013, and aims to increase the dividend payout ratio to 50 percent in 2015 from 40 percent in 2014.
(Reporting by Maya Nikolaeva and Matthias Blamont; Editing by James Regan)