Societe Generale second-quarter net profit up 8.1 percent

French bank Societe Generale said Wednesday its second-quarter earnings rose 8.1 percent from a year earlier, bolstered by the sale of its shares in Visa Europe.

The bank reported a 1.5 billion euro ($1.7 billion) net profit for the period, higher than the 1.4 billion euros predicted by economists in a survey by FactSet.

Selling the Visa Europe shares back to parent company Visa Inc earned the lender 662 million euros, after tax.

The bank has suffered from market volatility sparked by Britain's vote to leave the European Union and persistently low interest rates.

Net profit at its global banking and investor solution business, which includes investment banking, fell 36 percent to 448 million euros in the second quarter.

Retail banking outside France and specialised financial services fared better, with net profit jumping 36 percent to 436 million euros.

The bank's capital ratio, a key measure of its financial strength, stood at 11.1 percent as of the end of June.