Société Générale reports net loss

FRANCE'S second-biggest retail bank, Société Générale, has reported a €476 million net loss in the last quarter of 2012 - and has announced a restructuring plan to turn around its fortunes.

The bank's organisational structure will be simplified to save money. The loss compares with a €100 million net profit in the same period in 2011. Fourth-quarter revenue fell 15% year on year to €5.13 billion.

Meanwhile, former Société Générale rogue trader Jérôme Kerviel has announced that he is suing his former employer for €4.9 billion - the same amount that a court ordered he must pay back.

Kerviel, who was sentenced to three years in jail last year, has filed a case seeking damages, claiming the bank had "implied that there was the intention on my part to destroy the company" after he was sacked in 2008 for gross misconduct.