Santander Books Jump in Profit on Top-Line Growth, Lower Costs

By Elena Vardon

Spain's Banco Santander reported a surge in profit as it added more customers across its sprawling international network and kept a lid on costs.

The lender, which does a large chunk of its business in the U.S. and across Latin America, on Wednesday posted 5.455 billion euros ($6.39 billion) in net profit for its first quarter, up 60% on-year. This included a 1.9 billion-euro gain from the completion of the sale of its Polish subsidiary.

Underlying profit came in 12% higher at 3.56 billion euros, against expectations of 3.47 billion euros taken from a company-compiled consensus.

The lender's revenue edged up 4% to 15.14 billion euros for the period, surpassing the consensus estimate of 15.00 billion euros. The increase was driven by growth in income from fees and from the interest it charges on loans due to higher customer activity and volumes across its businesses, it said.

The Madrid-based group also said its costs were 3% lower at 6.48 billion euros. However, it increased its loan-loss provisions by 5% to 3.225 billion euros.

"Looking ahead, we expect this performance to continue, supported by growth in both total and active customers," Chair Ana Botin said, reiterating the bank's targets for the period through 2028.

Write to Elena Vardon at elena.vardon@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 29, 2026 01:27 ET (05:27 GMT)