Santander posts record profit despite special tax

Santander posts record profit despite special tax

Banco Santander boss Ana Botin said the bank will be able to keep its objectives for 2023 thanks to record earnings
Banco Santander boss Ana Botin said the bank will be able to keep its objectives for 2023 thanks to record earnings. Photo: Pierre-Philippe Marcou / AFP/File
Source: AFP

PAY ATTENTION: Be the first to follow YEN.com.gh on Threads! Click here!

Spanish lender Banco Santander reported Wednesday a record profit for the first half of the year despite a windfall tax imposed on banks, as rising interest rates lifted its earnings.

Banco Santander is the latest European banking giant to get a lift from central bank rate hikes aimed at taming high inflation.

Over the first six months of the year, its net profit reached a record 5.2 billion euros ($5.8 billion), seven percent higher than in the same period in 2022.

The bank is on pace to break the 10-billion-euro mark for the year after posting a record profit of 9.6 billion euros in 2022.

"Thanks to these good results... we will keep all our objectives for 2023," Santander's executive chairwoman Ana Botin said in a statement, pointing to double-digit growth in revenue to 28.23 billion euros in the first half.

Read also

Luxury giant LVMH enjoys 'excellent' first half

The lender said it benefited from growth in the number of customers and "positive balance sheet sensitivity to higher interest rates in Europe".

The European Central Bank and its peers outside the eurozone have hiked interest rates in efforts to combat high inflation, which soared following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Britain's Lloyds bank and Italian lender UniCredit also announced on Wednesday that the higher rates brought them bigger profits in their second quarters.

Banco Santander said it has 164 million customers across the world -- nine million more than a year ago, raising deposits by four percent to 1.1 billion euros.

Spain's left-wing government imposed a temporary windfall tax on big banks in January to fund measures to help households cope with higher prices.

The levy, which will carry into next year, will bring the state an additional 1.5 billion euros in revenue this year.

New feature: Сheck out news that is picked for YOU ➡️ click on “Recommended for you” and enjoy!

Source: AFP

Authors:
AFP avatar

AFP AFP text, photo, graphic, audio or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. AFP news material may not be stored in whole or in part in a computer or otherwise except for personal and non-commercial use. AFP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions in any AFP news material or in transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages whatsoever. As a newswire service, AFP does not obtain releases from subjects, individuals, groups or entities contained in its photographs, videos, graphics or quoted in its texts. Further, no clearance is obtained from the owners of any trademarks or copyrighted materials whose marks and materials are included in AFP material. Therefore you will be solely responsible for obtaining any and all necessary releases from whatever individuals and/or entities necessary for any uses of AFP material.