Santander, Europe’s largest lender by market value, announced a significant uplift in its underlying first-quarter net profit, rising 12.5% year-on-year. The Spanish banking giant posted a record eighth-quarterly underlying net profit of 3.56 billion euros ($4.17 billion), aligning with market forecasts. Including capital gains of 1.9 billion euros from the sale of a 49% stake in its Polish unit, the bank’s reported net profit for the quarter soared 60% to 5.46 billion euros.
The robust performance was primarily driven by higher revenues, which increased 4% in the quarter, coupled with a 2.6% reduction in total costs. These factors helped offset elevated provisions, partly related to motor compensations in the United Kingdom. Santander is a global financial services provider, offering a wide range of banking products and services across 10 core markets. Overall provisions rose 4.6% to 3.23 billion euros, in line with analysts’ expectations, with 207 million euros specifically set aside at Openbank for UK motor finance redress, adding to the 461 million pounds already provisioned.
Santander’s long-standing diversification has historically insulated the bank from economic downturns in individual regions. It recently decided to expand in core developed markets, including acquisitions of TSB in Britain and Webster in the US, aiming to boost its profit by over 40% in the next three years to exceed 20 billion euros. The bank also added eight million customers year-on-year by the end of March. Santander Executive Chair Ana Botin noted, “Our geographic and balance sheet diversification (…) remain key strengths amid heightened geopolitical uncertainty. Looking ahead, we expect this performance to continue.” The bank reaffirmed its 2026-28 targets, which include mid-single-digit revenue growth, lower costs in constant euros, higher profits, and a capital ratio of 12.8-13% for 2026.
