Last checked at 4 Feb 2010 07:34
Press Release
Santander distributes EUR 4,919 million to shareholders, 2% more than in 2008
Banco Santander meets its 2009 target
with attributable ordinary profit
of EUR 8.943 billion, up 1%
All EUR 2,587 million in net extraordinary capital gains were assigned to voluntary provisions. The Group increased generic provisions by EUR 1,500 million, wrote down the portfolio of acquired properties with EUR 814 million provisions, covering 32% of the value at acquisition, and reduced the value of Metrovacesa to EUR 25 per share, with a charge of EUR 269 million.
§ Profit was driven by growth in revenues (up 18%) almost double that of costs (up 10%). Excluding acquisitions and the exchange rate effects, revenues were up 11% and costs by less than 1%.
§ Loans rose by 9% and deposits by 21%. The Group continues to progress in its geographical diversification, with Continental Europe contributing 48% of Group profit (Spain accounts for 26%); Latin America, 36% (Brazil accounts for 20%); and the U.K. 16%.
§ Continental Europe registered attributable profit of EUR 5,031 million, up 7%. Loans decreased by 1%, while deposits grew by 20%.
§ In Latin America, attributable profit stood at $5,331 million (up 11%) or EUR 3,833 million (up 6%), with loans falling 8% and deposits 7%, excluding the sale of Banco de Venezuela and the exchange rate effect.
§ Attributable profit in the U.K. totalled £1,536 million (up 55%) or EUR 1,726 million (up 38%). Loans grew by 5% and deposits by 8% in pounds.
§ The non-performing loan ratio was 3.24% and the coverage rate was 75%. The non-performing loan ratio of the businesses in Spain stood at 3.41%. Growth in the non-performing loan ratio slowed down for a third consecutive quarter and the coverage rate increased for a second consecutive quarter, following steady reductions since 2006.
§ The Bank made provisions of EUR 9,484 million (up 44%) against 2009 earnings. Generic loan-loss reserves come to EUR 6,727 million, covering provisioning needs for 2010 and 2011.
§ The efficiency ratio stands at 41.7%, improving 2.9 points from the year before.
§ The capital ratios underline Banco Santander's solvency, with a Tier 1 ratio of 10.1% and core capital of 8.6%.
Madrid, February 4th, 2010 - Banco Santander met in 2009 all the targets the Bank announced at its June shareholders' meeting. Attributable profit stood at EUR 8,943 million, up 1% from 2008, and shareholder remuneration totalled EUR 4,919 million, up 2%. The bank's target was to match both amounts.
The strength of Banco Santander's income statement, based on its business model and diversification, is demonstrated by the Bank's ability to obtain nearly EUR 9 billion profits in each of the two worst years of the crisis. Emilio Botín, Chairman of Banco Santander, said: "Considering the difficult backdrop, the 2009 earnings are the best in the bank's history. For a second consecutive year, we are among the front-runners of world banking in terms of profit and dividend."
The P&L highlights the resilience of the underlying business and the management focus for the year
| Group ordinary* results | Var.2009/2008 |
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| EUR Mill | 2009 | 2008 | % | % excl. fx and perimeter | |
| Net Interest income | 26,299 | 20,945 | +25.6% | +16.3% | A: Soundness of most basic revenues |
| Fees | 9,080 | 9,020 | +0.7 | -5.7 |
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| Trading gains and other** | 4,003 | 3,524 | +13.6 | +20.8 | |
| Gross income | 39,381 | 33,489 | +17.6 | +10.9 | |
| Operating expenses | -16,421 | -14,949 | +9.8 | +0.4 | B: Expenses management |
| Net operating income | 22,960 | 18,540 | +23.8 | +19.3 |
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| Loan-loss provisions | -9,484 | -6,601 | +43.7 | +31.3 | C: More LLPs but decelerating |
| Net op. income after loan-loss provisions | 13,477 | 11,939 | +12.9 | +12.6 |
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| Ordinary* attrib. profit | 8,943 | 8,876 | +0.7 | +0.4 | |
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| EPS (in EUR) | 1.0454 | 1.2207 | -14.4 | n.s. |
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(*) With no impact from extraordinary capital gains, allocated to strengthening balance sheet
(**) Including dividends, equity method and other results. Trading gains o/2008: +31.8%
Banco Santander's businesses, which focus on ten core markets, generated EUR 22,960 million of net operating income, up 24%. This enabled the Group to register an annual profit of almost EUR 9 billion after assigning EUR 9,484 million to provisions for insolvency, an increase of 44%,
Businesses acquired by the Group in the last few years (Banco Real, Bradford & Bingley, Alliance & Leicester, Sovereign and the consumer finance units) contributed EUR 1,545 million to Group profit. These businesses will contribute over EUR 2,300 million to Group profit in 2010 and EUR 3,000 million in 2011. Sovereign, acquired at the beginning of 2009, achieved break-even in the fourth quarter of 2009, though it registered a loss of EUR 25 million for the full year.
Moreover, extraordinary capital gains amounted to EUR 2,587 million in 2009 through the capital increase and floating of the Brazilian unit (EUR 1,499 million), the debt exchange offers (EUR 724 million) and the sale of a 10% stake in Moroccan bank Attijariwafa and other minor transactions (EUR 364 million). All these extraordinary results have been used to strengthen the balance sheet. Thus, generic provisions for insolvencies increased by EUR 1,500 million, provisions for acquired properties grew by EUR 814 million and the write-down of Metrovacesa increased by EUR 269 million.
With these voluntary provisions, as they are clearly above the supervisor's requirements, Banco Santander has strengthened the fund covering the loss of value of acquired properties. This fund now amounts to EUR 1,368 million, so that properties in the Bank's books, which were acquired for EUR 4,304 million, are now valued at EUR 2,936 million. This means that the Bank would be able to assume a 32% depreciation of the value of those properties with no effect on the income statement.
Allowances set aside for Metrovacesa ensure that Santander won't need to realize further write-downs even if the company's net asset value fell by 28% from its latest valuation of EUR 34.9 per share. In Santander's books, the value has been set at EUR 25.
High profit generation in 2009
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Moreover, high extraordinary results allocated to strengthen the balance sheet
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Updated with the final figures from the table of extraordinary capital gains and allowances published in the Q3 '09 results presentation
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2009 Capital gains
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Capital gains allocation
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| EUR million
- Exchange of issues: 724
- IPO Brazil: 1,499
- Other (10% Attijariwa Bank, securitisations …): 364
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allocated to:
| EUR million
- Generic loan loss provision: -1,041 (Fund: EUR 1,500 mill.)
- Properties purchased: -554 (Fund: EUR 814 mill. Coverage>30%)
- Metrovacesa provision: -269 (25 € per share)
- Restructuring fund GE & SOV.: -260
- Early retirement and other: -463
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Contribution to net profit 2,587
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Impact on net profit - 2,587
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The remaining provisions anticipate restructuring costs and write-downs that will take place in 2010 and the following years after the integration of Sovereign and the units that were acquired from GE Money in Europe in 2008.
This prudence, our geographical diversification and synergies obtained through the integration of the businesses acquired over the last two years enable Banco Santander to face 2010 with more optimism.
Results
The quality of the income statement, which does not include extraordinary results, is underlined by 18% growth in revenues compared with 10% growth in costs. Eliminating exchange rate effects on the Group's working currencies and the contribution of the new businesses that were consolidated into 2009 accounts (Alliance & Leicester, Sovereign and the consumer finance units) - thus providing a view of Banco Santander's underlying trends,- revenue grew by 11% and costs by less than 1%.
This performance allowed Santander to continue to improve its efficiency ratio, by 2.9 points, to end 2009 at 41.7%. This increase in efficiency occurred as the bank was integrating units which still have a wide margin for improvement to attain Group levels of efficiency. The rate of efficiency of the units in Continental Europe is 36.4%, an improvement of 1.1 point on the year. Efficiency in Latin America is 37.3%, an improvement of 6.6 points from 2008. The U.K. improved efficiency by 4.5 points, to 40.8%. Sovereign has the most room for improvement among bank units, with costs amounting to 60.2%, though it showed the greatest improvement on the year, in line with the restructuring plan put in place following the acquisition. Efficiency in the first quarter was 74.5%.
The slowing rate of growth in provisions for bad loans reflects slower growth in non-performing loans. New NPLs have been declining on a quarter-to-quarter basis, from EUR 5,290 million in the first quarter to EUR 3,897 million in the fourth. The NPL rate was 3.24% at the end of the year, up 0.21 point from the previous quarter, the lowest increase in the last five quarters. Reserves provided coverage for 75% of bad loans at the end of the year, up two points from the previous quarter, which had already improved by a point. This confirms a change in the trend, which had been falling since December 2006.
Banco Santander's NPL and coverage ratios are substantially better than those of its competitors in all its main markets. In Spain, NPLs come to 3.41%, compared to an average of 5% for banks and cajas in November. Similar differentials can be seen in the U.K. and Latin America. At the end of 2009, Santander's loan-loss allowances came to EUR 18,497 million, of which EUR 11,770 million were specific provisions and EUR 6,727 million generic. Projected growth in provisions indicates that the generic reserves will last through 2010 and 2011.
Attributable profit by operating geographic segments
2009
| Attributable profit | ||
| Spain Retail | 26% | Continental Europe 48% |
| Other Retail Europe | 11% | |
| Global businesses Europe | 11% | |
| United Kingdom | 16% | |
| Brazil | 20% | |
| Other Latam | 16% | |
By geographic areas, Continental Europe generated attributable profit of EUR 5,031 million, an increase of 7%, with the main unit, the Santander branch network in Spain, increasing by 5% to EUR 2,012 million. U.K. profit increased by 55% in pounds to £1,536 million, which came to an increase in euros of 38% to EUR 1,726 million. Profit in Latin America in dollars, its operating currency, stood at $5,331 million (+11% excluding exchange rate effects) and EUR 3,833 million (up 6%). Brazil, with earnings of EUR 2,167 million, made the largest contribution, followed by Chile, with EUR 563 million and Mexico, with EUR 495 million.
Some 48% of Grupo Santander profit was generated by units in Continental Europe, 36% in Latin America (20% from Brazil and 16% from the rest of the region) and 16% from the U.K. The Group has two units which are generating profits of EUR 2 billion a year, the Santander branch network in Spain and Brazil, with the U.K. nearly at this level.
Business
Growth continued to be more focused on deposits than loans, whose growth was affected by lower demand resulting from the global crisis. Deposits grew by 21% and loans by 9%.
Banco Santander ended 2009 with managed funds of EUR 1.245 trillion, an increase of 7%. Of this amount, EUR 1.111 trillion are on the balance sheet, an increase of 6%.
Santander net lending came to EUR 682,551 million at the close of the year, an increase of 9%. In Continental Europe, lending to customers was EUR 322,026 million, a decline of 1%. In Spain, lending by the Santander branch network and Banesto fell by 4%. In Portugal, Santander Totta fell by 1%. Santander Consumer increased lending by 6%.
Customer lending
Gross customer loans
EUR billion and % change Dec 09 / Dec 08
+9.6% *
| Dec 08 | 639 |
| Mar 09 | 700 |
| Jun 09 | 709 |
| Sep 09 | 686 |
| Dec 09 | 700 |
| (*) Excluding exchange rate impact: +5.1% | |
Gross customer loans. December 2009
% over operating areas
| Spain | 35% |
| United Kingdom | 33% |
| Other Europe | 12% |
| Brazil | 8% |
| Other Latam | 7% |
| Sovereign | 5% |
In Latin America, loan volume was EUR 97,901 million, an increase of 2% in euros and a fall of 8% excluding exchange rate effects. In local currencies, Brazil fell by 5%, Chile by 6% and Mexico by 11%, affected by the decline in credit cards.
The U.K. closed the year with loan volume of EUR 227,713 million, an increase of 12% in euros and 5% in pounds. Mortgage lending rose by 5%, bringing the portfolio to £160,400 million. The Group's market share was 19% of gross new mortgage lending.
In savings, customer funds under management rose by 9% in euros to EUR 900,057 million at the close of 2009. Customer deposits grew by 21%, while mutual funds and pensions both showed increases, by 16% and 2%, respectively.
Customer deposits in Continental Europe rose 19% to EUR 198,144 million. In Spain, the Santander branch network and Banesto together increased deposits by 12%. In Portugal, deposits fell by 4% due to inflows into mutual funds, which grew by 22%. Santander Consumer Finance increased deposits by 45%.
Deposits in Latin America were about steady at EUR 108,122 million, affected by the sale of Banco de Venezuela. In local currencies, customer funds rose by 1% in Brazil and 6% in Mexico, falling by 3% in Chile.
In the United Kingdom, deposits rose by 16% (8% in pounds) to EUR 166,607 million.
At the close of 2009, Continental Europe accounted for 47% of lending and 40% of funds; the U.K. 33% and 31%, respectively, Latin America 15% of lending and 23% of funds and Sovereign (U.S.) 5% and 6%, respectively.
Customer funds under management
EUR billion and % change Dec 09 / Dec 08
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| Dec 08 | Mar 09 | Jun 09 | Sep 09 | Dec 09 |
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| Total | 827 | 875 | 884 | 867 | 900 | +8.9%* |
| Other customer funds | 131 | 129 | 137 | 144 | 144 | +10.1% |
| Other on-balance sheet funds | 318 | 319 | 305 | 289 | 288 | -9.4% |
| Deposits excl. repos | 378 | 427 | 442 | 434 | 468 | +23.8% |
| (*) Excluding exchange rate impact: + 4.1%
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Customer funds under management. December 2009
% over operating areas
| Spain | 32% |
| United Kingdom | 31% |
| Other Europe | 8% |
| Brazil | 13% |
| Other Latam | 10% |
| Sovereign | 6% |
The share and the dividend
Banco Santander's eligible capital at the close of the third quarter came to EUR 79,704 million, with a surplus of EUR 34,769 million above the required regulatory minimum. With this capital base, the BIS ratio, using Basel II criteria, comes to 14.2%, Tier I to 10.1% and core capital 8.6%. These ratios place Santander among the most solvent banks in the world, without it having received direct state support in any of the markets in which it operates. Santander generates organically 50 basis points in core capital a year under current growth patterns and after remunerating shareholders.
In 2009, Banco Santander's dividend payout to shareholders was EUR 4,919 million, up 2% from 2008, the largest shareholder payout in the world by a financial institution.
With this in mind, the Bank's Board of Directors approved a fourth dividend for the 2009 financial year of EUR 0.22 a share, to be paid from next May 1, bringing the total dividend for the year to EUR 0.60 a share. This represents a decline of 7.8% from 2008, due to a 32% increase in outstanding shares due mainly to the capital increase of November 2008. Shareholders that participated in that increase have seen a 150% revaluation of their shares.
The Santander share ended 2009 at EUR 11.55, an increase of 71% during the year. At this level, Santander's market value exceeded EUR 95,000 million, placing it among the eight top banks in the world by market value and making it the largest company in Spain. Moreover, in October the public offer of shares in the Brazilian unit was completed. That unit ended the year with a market value of EUR 36,400 million, making it the world's 28th largest bank by market capitalization.
At the close of 2009, Santander had 3,062,633 shareholders. During the third quarter, Banco de Venezuela, with 5,600 employees and 285 branches, left the Group. Total employment in the Group is 169,460, serving around 90 million customers in 13,660 branches, making Santander the international financial group with the most shareholders and the largest branch network.
Más información en: www.santander.com
Key consolidated data
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| Variation |
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| 2009 | 2008 | Amount | % | 2007 | 2007 * |
| Balance sheet (million euros) |
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| Total assets | 1,110,529 | 1,049,632 | 60,898 | 5.8 | 912,915 |
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| Net customer loans | 682,551 | 626,888 | 55,662 | 8.9 | 571,099 |
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| Customer funds under management | 900,057 | 826,567 | 73,489 | 8.9 | 784,872 |
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| Shareholders' equity | 70,006 | 63,768 | 6,239 | 9.8 | 51,945 |
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| Total managed funds | 1,245,420 | 1,168,355 | 77,065 | 6.6 | 1,063,892 |
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| Income statement (million euros) |
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| Net interest income | 26,299 | 20,945 | 5,353 | 25.6 | 14,443 |
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| Gross income | 39,381 | 33,489 | 5,892 | 17.6 | 26,441 |
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| Net operating income | 22,960 | 18,540 | 4,420 | 23.8 | 14,417 |
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| Profit from continuing operations | 9,427 | 9,030 | 397 | 4.4 | 8,327 |
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| Attributable profit to the Group | 8,943 | 8,876 | 66 | 0.7 | 8,111 | 9,060 |
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| EPS, profitability and efficiency (%) |
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| EPS (euro) (1) | 1.0454 | 1.2207 | (0.1753) | (14.4) | 1.1924 | 1.3320 |
| Diluted EPS (euro) (1) | 1.0382 | 1.2133 | (0.1751) | (14.4) | 1.1809 | 1.3191 |
| ROE | 13.90 | 17.07 |
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| 19.61 | 21.91 |
| ROA | 0.86 | 0.96 |
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| 0.98 | 1.09 |
| RoRWA | 1.74 | 1.86 |
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| 1.76 | 1.95 |
| Efficiency ratio (with amortisations) | 41.7 | 44.6 |
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| 45.5 |
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| BIS II ratios and NPL ratios (%) |
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| Core capital (2) | 8.6 | 7.5 |
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| 6.3 |
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| Tier I (2) | 10.1 | 9.1 |
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| 7.7 |
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| BIS ratio (2) | 14.2 | 13.3 |
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| 12.7 |
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| NPL ratio | 3.24 | 2.04 |
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| 0.95 |
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| NPL coverage | 75.33 | 90.64 |
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| 150.55 |
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| Market capitalisation and shares |
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| Shares outstanding (millions at period-end) | 8,229 | 7,994 | 235 | 2.9 | 6,254 |
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| Share price (euros) | 11.550 | 6.750 | 4.800 | 71.1 | 13.790 |
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| Market capitalisation (million euros) | 95,043 | 53,960 | 41,083 | 76.1 | 92,501 |
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| Book value (euro) (1) | 8.04 | 7.58 |
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| 7.23 |
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| Price / Book value (x) (1) | 1.44 | 0.89 |
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| 1.91 |
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| P/E ratio (X) | 11.05 | 5.53 |
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| 11.56 |
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| Other data |
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| Number of shareholders | 3,062,633 | 3,034,816 | 27,817 | 0.9 | 2,278,321 |
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| Number of employees | 169,460 | 170,961 | (1,501) | (0.9) | 131,819 |
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| Continental Europe | 49,870 | 48,467 | 1,403 | 2.9 | 47,838 |
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| o/w: Spain | 33,262 | 34,492 | (1,230) | (3.6) | 34,821 |
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| United Kingdom | 22,949 | 24,379 | (1,430) | (5.9) | 16,827 |
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| Latin America | 85,974 | 96,405 | (10,431) | (10.8) | 65,628 |
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| Sovereign | 8,847 | - | 8,847 | - | - |
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| Corporate Activities | 1,820 | 1,710 | 110 | 6.4 | 1,526 |
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| Number of branches | 13,660 | 13,390 | 270 | 2.0 | 11,178 |
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| Continental Europe | 5,871 | 5,998 | (127) | (2.1) | 5,976 |
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| o/w: Spain | 4,865 | 5,022 | (157) | (3.1) | 5,014 |
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| United Kingdom | 1,322 | 1,303 | 19 | 1.5 | 704 |
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| Latin America | 5,745 | 6,089 | (344) | (5.6) | 4,498 |
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| Sovereign | 722 | - | 722 | - | - |
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(*). - Including extraordinary capital gains and allowances.
(1).- Data 2008 and 2007 adjusted to the capital increase with preemptive rights at the end of 2008.
(2).- Data 2007, BIS I criteria.
Note: The financial information in this report has not been audited, but it was approved by the Board of Directors at its meeting on January 25, 2010, following a favourable report from the Audit and Compliance Committee on January 20, 2010. The Committee verified that the information for the quarter was based on the same principles and practices as those used to draw up the annual financial statements.
Key data by principal segments
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| Net operating income | Attributable profit to the Group | ||||||
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| Variation |
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| Variation | ||
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| 2009 | 2008 | Amount | % | 2009 | 2008 | Amount | % |
| Income statement (million euros) |
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| Continental Europe | 10,312 | 9,103 | 1,210 | 13.3 | 5,031 | 4,705 | 326 | 6.9 |
| o/w: Santander Branch Network | 3,252 | 3,300 | (49) | (1.5) | 2,012 | 1,907 | 105 | 5.5 |
| Banesto | 1,551 | 1,442 | 109 | 7.5 | 738 | 732 | 6 | 0.8 |
| Santander Consumer Finance | 2,976 | 2,395 | 581 | 24.3 | 632 | 696 | (64) | (9.2) |
| Portugal | 726 | 678 | 47 | 7.0 | 531 | 531 | 1 | 0.1 |
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| United Kingdom | 3,321 | 2,127 | 1,104 | 51.9 | 1,726 | 1,247 | 479 | 38.4 |
| Latin America | 11,071 | 9,072 | 1,999 | 22.0 | 3,833 | 3,609 | 225 | 6.2 |
| o/w: Brazil | 7,376 | 5,441 | 1,935 | 35.6 | 2,167 | 1,769 | 398 | 22.5 |
| Mexico | 1,542 | 1,755 | (212) | (12.1) | 495 | 600 | (105) | (17.6) |
| Chile | 1,196 | 1,144 | 52 | 4.5 | 563 | 545 | 19 | 3.4 |
| Sovereign | 582 |
| 582 |
| (25) |
| (25) |
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| Operating areas | 25,196 | 20,301 | 4,895 | 24.1 | 10,565 | 9,561 | 1,004 | 10.5 |
| Corporate Activities | (2,236) | (1,761) | (475) | 27.0 | (1,623) | (685) | (938) | 137.0 |
| Total Group | 22,960 | 18,540 | 4,420 | 23.8 | 8,943 | 8,876 | 66 | 0.7 |
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| Efficiency ratio (1) | ROE | NPL ratio * | NPL coverage * | ||||
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| 2009 | 2008 | 2009 | 2008 | 31.12.09 | 31.12.08 | 31.12.09 | 31.12.08 |
| Ratios (%) |
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| Continental Europe | 36.4 | 37.5 | 18.78 | 20.30 | 3.64 | 2.31 | 77 | 90 |
| o/w: Santander Branch Network* | 39.4 | 38.7 | 26.63 | 23.03 | 4.38 | 2.58 | 65 | 75 |
| Banesto | 40.0 | 41.8 | 17.24 | 18.29 | 2.97 | 1.64 | 64 | 106 |
| Santander Consumer Finance | 28.0 | 27.6 | 9.00 | 17.00 | 5.39 | 4.18 | 97 | 86 |
| Portugal | 42.8 | 44.1 | 25.38 | 27.05 | 2.27 | 1.72 | 65 | 77 |
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| United Kingdom | 40.8 | 45.3 | 29.62 | 28.56 | 1.71 | 1.04 | 44 | 69 |
| Latin America | 37.3 | 43.9 | 23.67 | 24.59 | 4.25 | 2.95 | 105 | 108 |
| o/w: Brazil | 37.0 | 46.2 | 25.64 | 22.91 | 5.27 | 3.58 | 99 | 102 |
| Mexico | 34.2 | 35.3 | 18.43 | 20.76 | 1.84 | 2.41 | 264 | 132 |
| Chile | 33.2 | 34.6 | 32.29 | 37.26 | 3.20 | 2.64 | 89 | 102 |
| Sovereign | 60.2 |
| - |
| 5.35 |
| 62 |
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| Operating areas | 38.3 | 41.4 | 21.02 | 22.62 | 3.21 | 2.02 | 76 | 91 |
| Total Group | 41.7 | 44.6 | 13.90 | 17.07 | 3.24 | 2.04 | 75 | 91 |
(1) - With amortisations.
(*) - Santander Brach Network is the retail unit of Banco Santander S.A. The NPL ratio of Banco Santander at the end of December 2009 stood at 3.41% (1.93% in December 2008) and NPL coverage was 73% (96% in December 2008).
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| Employees | Branches | ||
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| 31.12.09 | 31.12.08 | 31.12.09 | 31.12.08 |
| Operating means |
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| Continental Europe | 49,870 | 48,467 | 5,871 | 5,998 |
| o/w: Santander Branch Network | 19,064 | 19,447 | 2,934 | 2,933 |
| Banesto | 9,727 | 10,440 | 1,773 | 1,915 |
| Santander Consumer Finance | 9,362 | 8,052 | 311 | 290 |
| Portugal | 6,294 | 6,584 | 763 | 770 |
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| United Kingdom | 22,949 | 24,379 | 1,322 | 1,303 |
| Latin America * | 85,974 | 96,405 | 5,745 | 6,089 |
| o/w: Brazil | 50,961 | 53,256 | 3,593 | 3,603 |
| Mexico | 12,466 | 13,932 | 1,093 | 1,129 |
| Chile | 11,751 | 12,079 | 498 | 507 |
| Sovereign | 8,847 |
| 722 |
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| Operating areas | 167,640 | 169,251 | 13,660 | 13,390 |
| Corporate Activities | 1,820 | 1,710 |
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| Total Group | 169,460 | 170,961 | 13,660 | 13,390 |
(*) - In 2008, sale of Banco de Venezuela (5,600 employees; 285 branches)