SocGen doubles profits target

FRENCH bank Société Générale, hit by allegations surrounding rogue trader Jerome Kerviel, has doubled its 2012 net profit target to 6 billion (£5bn) in an attempt to restore investor confidence.

Its shares rose 2.5 per cent after chief executive Frederic Oudea said the bank would not seek a capital increase and would finance acquisitions by selling off chunks of its asset portfolio.

But he ruled out an acquisition of Allied Irish Bank's stake in Polish bank Zachodni as "too expensive" relative to its growth potential.