Santander reports quarterly and biannual profits

by Richard Kilner

Story link: Santander reports quarterly and biannual profits

Banco Santander has released its financial results for the first six months and second quarter of 2010.

In the first six months the Spanish banking giant made net income of €4.45bn, down 1.6% from the same period last year, with pre-tax profits recorded at €6.3bn.

However, in Q2 Santander enjoyed net profits of €2.23bn, the largest quarterly profit margin in the last four quarters.

Net interest income was up 15%, with net fee and commission income rising by 6%, with gross operating income up 8% to €20.87bn.

Continental Europe delivered 43% of the firm’s profits, with the UK contributing 17%, where income rose 11% to £875m from £790m in the same period last year.

Chairman Emilio Botín has said that the interim results give the bank confidence that over the course of 2010 they will manage to achieve similar profits to those recorded in 2009.