Banking Boom As Santander Posts Record Profits

February 7, 2023 Madrid Metropolitan Business, spanish banking sector, spanish economy

Spain’s largest banks are having a boom time with expected improved profits for 2022 being reported across the sector.

Spain´s big four of Banco Santander, BBVA, CaixaBank and Banco de Sabadell are all forecasting rises in net income for last year.

Sabadell is seen as the biggest riser, with analysts expecting net income to jump 47.2% year over year to €784.5 million.

The country´s biggest lender, Madrid based, Banco Santander has also reported record profits for 2022, helped by higher interest rates.

The bank posted an annual net profit of €9.6 billion, up 18% on the previous year.

Santander will be again part of the solution in 2023. Our strong track record gives me confidence in achieving further growth this year and beyond. We are ready to help our customers while simplifying our model, improving connectivity and ensuring efficient capital allocation pic.twitter.com/sHJomCvc6M
— Ana Botín (@AnaBotin) February 2, 2023

Speaking to shareholders, the banks chairman, Ana Botin said that 2022 “was another strong year for Santander as we made further progress in growing our customer base profitably, while maintaining a rock-solid balance sheet”

“The competitive advantage gained from our in-market and global scale, combined with our diversification and customer focus, has allowed us to grow our customer base by 7 million in the year while achieving double digit growth in revenues and profit, with capital in line with our target,” she said.

She said that the challenge of higher inflation rates caused triggered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine needed to be met by government but that she was confident Santander would be able to “navigate these conditions successfully.”

Santander is Spain’s biggest bank with large presences in the UK and Latin America and some 160 million clients worldwide.