Santander aim for €10bn profit in 2008

by Richard Kilner

Story link: Santander aim for €10bn profit in 2008

The Annual General Meeting of Spanish bank Banco Santander, chaired by Emilio Botín, saw the firm’s 2007 results given approval by the assembled shareholders.

Botín stated that the group was aiming for total profit of €10bn during the next year.

The chairman was confident about the future of the firm, referring to the fact that share dividends rose by 25%, the third consecutive time this has now occurred.

Santander’s dominance in its native Spain was reflected by the fact that it is larger than the next four largest Spanish banks combined, and larger than the top two German banks.

Over the last decade, attributable profit for the firm has increased by over a quarter (25.7%), coupled with earnings per share up by 15.5%.

However, Botín did point out the worldwide difficulties faced by the financial sector and the turbulent times ahead.

Despite that he maintained his confidence in the future prospects for the bank, and confirmed the target of earnings per share growth of 15%.