• Shares gained 42.36% in 2025 and hit an all-time high of 37,500 CFA francs in 2026, delivering investors a sustained rally on the BRVM exchange

• The board now proposes distributing 80% of 2025 net income, up from 57.25%, adding a 2,606 CFA franc gross dividend on top of capital gains

• Non-performing loans rose to 8%, coverage fell to 82%, and cost of risk jumped 29%, absorbing most of the gains from net banking income growth

Societe Generale Cote d'Ivoire (SGCI), the largest bank listed by market value on the WAEMU regional exchange BRVM, will distribute 80% of its 2025 earnings. This marks the biggest payout in the bank’s six-decade history and rewards shareholders who had already benefited from a 42.36% stock rally the previous year.

The Abidjan-based unit of France's Societe Generale SA will pay a gross dividend of 2,606 CFA francs ($4.68) per share, up 40% from the prior year and totalling $145.6 million, according to the allocation proposal in the activity report dated April 14, 2026.

Shares closed 2025 at $53.67, then climbed to an all-time high of $67.32 in early 2026 before easing to $59.25 on April 20, data from Sika Finance showed. The forward dividend yield reached 7.9%, giving SGCI a market capitalisation of $1.85 billion.

The outcome reflects the bank's "capacity to generate solid results" in a heavily regulated environment, it said in the report. The board approved the distribution after SGCI reported nearly flat annual profit of $182 million, up 0.1% from 2024.

The decision makes SGCI the first lender in the West African Economic and Monetary Union to post net income of $179.5 million for two consecutive years, while distributing the highest share of that income since its founding in 1962. The payout lands on top of a fifth straight year of double-digit stock returns.

Credit cycle

Beneath the record share price sits a turning credit cycle. Non-performing loans rose to 8% of gross exposures from 7.5% a year earlier, and the coverage ratio fell to 82% from 84%. The cost of risk climbed 29% to $84 million, driven by deferred strain in the small- and mid-size-enterprise book.

Net banking income rose 4.9% to $495.5 million, lifted by a 4.1% gain in interest income and a 3.6% decline in funding costs after the Central Bank of West African States cut its main policy rate 25 basis points to 3.25% on June 16, 2025.

Fee income fell 2.7% and trading gains dropped 45% as corporate deal flow slowed before Ivory Coast's October presidential election. Operating expenses rose 7.3% to $192.1 million on non-recurring charges tied to the renovation of the Abidjan headquarters.

Deposits grew 5.8% to $5.22 billion while loans expanded 2.9% to $4.58 billion, cutting the loan-to-deposit ratio to 87.6% from 90.1% and allowing SGCI to reduce interbank borrowing by $57.5 million. The bank also replaced about $900 million in government effects with corporate bonds.

SGCI controls 19% of Côte d’Ivoire's credit market and 15% of its deposits, according to APBEF-CI data cited in the report. The solvency ratio exceeded 16%, compared with the 11.5% regulatory minimum, while Bloomfield Investment Corp. rated the local-currency debt AAA in 2024, making it the only Ivorian bank at that grade.

The average solvency ratio for the WAEMU banking system stood at 14.7% at the end of 2024, and gross non-performing loans averaged 8.5%, according to the latest annual report from the WAEMU Banking Commission. SGCI's capital buffer exceeds the regional mean, while its asset quality has converged with it.

The BRVM named SGCI "Listed Company of the Year" in May 2025 at its awards ceremony in Abidjan. The stock's 14-day relative strength index stood at 37 as of April 20, indicating a consolidation phase after the first-quarter 2026 peak, according to Sika Finance data.

The 2026 test will be whether non-performing loans stabilise as Côte d’Ivoire’s 2026-2030 National Development Plan revives corporate credit demand. First-quarter earnings are expected by late April. Analysts will also watch whether fee income and trading gains rebound from the election-related slump.

Idriss Linge