Santander's Second Quarter: Lower Loan Losses and Robust Revenue Growth Drive Solid Earnings Beat

Narrow-moat Santander reported underlying attributable net profit of EUR 2 billion for the second quarter of 2021, ahead of the EUR 1.5 billion it reported for the second quarter of 2020 and the EUR 1.7 billion the analyst consensus collected by Visible Alpha expected for the quarter. Lower loan loss provisions continue to be the main driver of the recovery in earnings, but Santander will be pleased with the 6% year-on-year revenue growth. We maintain our EUR 4 per share fair value estimate and our narrow moat rating.