Santander’s €6.1bn bill to cover property fears
SANTANDER said it would put aside a further €2.3bn (£1.92bn) to meet new Spanish government rules on bad property assets.
The Eurozone’s largest bank by market cap said it needed a total of €6.1bn of provisions. It has already booked some €1.8bn against 2011 results and €2bn was already covered in an existing buffer. It said an additional €900m would come from capital gains on its sale of Banco Santander Colombia.
Meanwhile, Santander UK said it had beaten its lending targets agreed under Project Merlin.
The bank, which is run by Ana Botin, lent £8.7bn to businesses in 2011, compared to a commitment of £6.7bn. It said £4.3bn of the cash went to small and medium sized businesses. The targets are agreed with the Treasury but use different lending definitions from the Bank of England.