Société Générale reported group net income of €1.52 billion (~US$1.77 billion) for the latest quarter, up 11.3% from a year earlier and beating analyst expectations by over €200 million. The French bank credited its improved performance to aggressive cost-reduction measures and growth in wealth-management and corporate-banking segments. Despite a challenging macro-environment, SocGen said it would continue to target overhead reduction and improve returns on equity, aiming to position itself ahead of peers in the European banking sector.