The chief executive of Société Générale’s corporate and investment banking arm today said aggressive hiring plans had been slowed on a relative basis by “uncertain and unsupportive” market conditions in the second quarter, but said he was satisfied with the division’s performance in the period, despite profits more than halving from a year ago.

Michel Péretié told Financial News: "The bottom line has to be our driver for growth. We have been cautious but active with recruitment, and we have more or less done the recruitment we wanted, though we are a little behind our original objectives as we wanted to adapt to market conditions."