Compensation for staff in the corporate and investment banking business of Société Générale fell in the first quarter despite a big rise in revenues from trading as the bank was hit by a fresh multi-billion writedowns that dragged the division to a loss.

Revenues from trading, led by the fixed income, currencies and commodities businesses, more than doubled to €1.57bn ($2.1bn), but this was almost entirely wiped out by a €1.51bn writedown on a portfolio of credit positions. The writedowns included €866m against Société Générale's exposure to monoline bond insurers, pushing the investment bank to a €414m loss for the quarter, compared with a €141m profit last year.