Santander has reported a resilient set of
first half results, with net profits of €4.44bn ($5.8bn) down by
only 1.6% from the year ago period.
Santander chairman Emilio Botin said that the
bank was on course to match its fiscal 2009 net profits of
€8.9bn.
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In the first half of the current fiscal year,
Santander’s retail strength was highlighted by the retail banking
unit generating 85% of total gross income and 72% of attributable
profit.
Santander’s drive to increase deposits
resulted in customer deposits soaring by 23% year-on-year to
€595.3bn, including:
- A 34% rise in deposits to €238.1bn in Continental Europe;
- Latin America deposits up by 19% to €127.9bn, and
- UK deposits up by 14% to €185.8bn.
But non-performing loans across the group
continued to rise, hitting 3.37% of total lending at the end of
June, up from 2.82% a year earlier and from 3.34% at the end of the
first quarter. Retail banking net loan-loss provisions increased
5.1% year-on-year.
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By GlobalDataTotal group-wide lending increased by 5%
year-on-year to €727.9bn. While lending at Santander’s
Spanish-based branch network and at the retail-focused Banesto unit
fell by 4% and 1%, respectively from a year earlier, lending rose
substantially elsewhere in the group.
Lending in Latin America grew by 20% to
€116.6bn and in the UK by 6% to €240.6bn.
Santander ended the first half with a total
branch network of 13,671 outlets, down by 3.1% or 427 units from a
year ago.
