AFP - French banking giant Societe Generale on Wednesday reported a net profit for both the fourth quarter of 2008 and the full year despite the devastating financial crisis that has plagued so many lenders elsewhere.
  
In a statement, the bank said net earnings in the final three months of the year came to 87 million euros (110 million dollars), even against the backdrop of the spectacular collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers.
  
The fall of Lehman in September sent shock waves through the global financial sector and undermined corporate performances worldwide.
  
For 2008 as a whole, Societe Generale said net profit came to 2.0 billion euros compared with 947 million in 2007 when it absorbed a 4.9-billion-euro loss it attributed to unauthorised actions by one of its traders, Jerome Kerviel.
  
But Societe Generale did not fully escape the impact of the financial crisis, as it was forced to triple its provisions for risky credit to 2.655 billion euros.