Banco Santander Q4 Profit Climbs; Loan-loss Provisions Fall

(RTTNews) - Spanish lender Banco Santander SA (BNC.L, BSBR, SAN) Tuesday said its fourth-quarter profit increased significantly from the previous year, amid lower provisions for loan losses.

The lender, which last month announced a surprise share sale to bolster its capital position, said profit attributable to the group climbed to 1.455 billion euros from 864 million euros.

Gross income for the quarter was 11.040 billion euros, compared with 10.017 billion euros in the previous year.

Net interest income advanced to 7.714 billion euros from 6.930 billion euros in the previous year. Net fees improved to 2.524 billion euros from 2.345 billion euros.

Net operating income for the quarter grew to 5.824 billion euros from 4.957 billion euros last year. Profit before taxes jumped to 2.580 billion euros from 1.554 billion euros.

Net loan-loss provisions were 2.452 billion euros, versus 2.774 billion euros in the same quarter in the prior year.

In Global Wholesale Banking or GBM, gross income was 1.079 billion euros, compared to 1.214 billion euros last year. The company reported higher commercial revenues and lower trading gains in the quarter, adding that provisions were normalizing.

Private Banking, Asset Management and Insurance reported quarterly revenues of 1.207 billion euros, up from 1.044 billion euros last year.

For the year, profit climbed 39.3 percent to 5.816 billion euros, and gross income edged up 1.7 percent to 42.612 billion euros. Net interest income was 29.548 billion euros, up 4 percent from last year.

Looking ahead, for the medium-term, the company expects CET1 fully-loaded capital of 10 to 11 percent, compared to 9.7 percent in 2014, and earnings per share growth above peers, after an increase of 24 percent in 2014.

The stock slipped 0.4 percent on Monday to 5.93 euros.