SOCIÉTÉ GÉNÉRALE 
Citi has lowered its recommendation from "buy" to "neutral", reduced its target price from 21% to 26 euros, and regrets the lack of detail provided by Societe Generale on the rationale behind its decision to lower its outlook.
Morgan Stanley and Barclays also cut their price targets by 3.3% to 29 euros and 3.4% to 28 euros respectively.
On the Paris Bourse, at around 07:15 GMT, the share price had fallen by 3.25% to 21.1 euros, after having tumbled by around 8% the previous day, and was the lantern of the CAC 40, which was down by 0.52% at the same time.
Citing a context marked by rising interest-bearing deposits and a wait-and-see credit market against a backdrop of heightened competition, Societe Generale warned on Thursday that the net interest margin - which measures the difference between interest received and paid on deposits - of its French retail bank would, in the best-case scenario, reach around 3.8 billion euros this year.
"The markets would have appreciated more detail on the changes in assumptions compared with previous targets in order to understand the downward revision (...), as comments from the market and peers have been more constructive constructive" explain Citi analysts in a note.
They also deplored the uncertainties surrounding the bank's profitability improvement and its ability to achieve its targets, with the backlog leaving the timing of a possible inflexion uncertain, "particularly in light of a potentially more challenging environment due to political uncertainty".
(Written by Pauline Foret, Augustin Turpin)
