Santander's Q3 profit rises 36% despite drag from UK
By Caoimhe Toman
Date: Wednesday 31 Oct 2018
(Sharecast News) - Santander met estimates for its Q3 results on Wednesday, reporting a rise in profits in most markets, especially in Spain (+ 27%) and the United States (+ 36%), but not in the where UK they fell by 10%.
For the three months to September, the lender posted profit after tax of €1,9bn, 36% more than in the year-ago period (€1.4bn). According to Reuters, analysts had penciled-in net income of €1.92bn.
In Brazil, the bank's most profitable market, attributable profit increased by 2% to €1.9bn, as the number of clients jumped by 1.0m versus the corresponding period of 2017.
The lender also did especially well in Spain this quarter, with profits ahead by 27% to €1bn, which management attributed to increased customer revenues (+ 19%) and improved efficiency following the acquisition of Popular.
Its performance in the United Kingdom on the other hand underwhelmed, with attributable profit down 10% from a year ago to roughly €1.0bn as Santander ploughed ahead with its digital transformation plans and regulatory projects, two of its strategic priorities.
CEO Ana Botín said: "Ordinary profit increases in eight of our markets, which represent 85% of our profit, while the quality of credit also improves. Brazil, Mexico and Spain maintain the positive trends of the last quarters, and the United Kingdom shows an improvement in inter-quarterly data in an environment that continues to be complicated".
As of 1227 GMT on Wednesday, shares in Santander were rising 3.21% and near the top of the leader board on the Ibex 35.
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