The entity led by Ana Botín calculates that last year’s total cash dividend is up 16%
Banco Santander has been able to say goodbye to 2022 with historic results. The entity chaired by Ana Botín ended the year with an unprecedented result of EUR 9,605 million, 18.2% more than in 2021. The figure even exceeds the peak of 9,060 million reached in 2007 and prompts the agitated debate of the current Government due to high corporate profits during the crisis. If only the fourth quarter is included, the entity earned 2,289 million euros, 1% more.
Yesterday, the second vice president, Yolanda Díaz, and other coalition government ministers misused the accounts of another major entity in the country, BBVA, to address the criticism of businessmen that began a few weeks ago regarding the food industry, new and now focuses on the banking sector.
The truth is that the onset of interest rate hikes has been a strong boost to the accounts of entities that have just suffered the impact of years of negative interest rates on their margins.
Now the roles are reversed. And thanks to the rate increase, especially in the UK in the case of Santander, the gross margin increased by 12% to EUR 52,154 million. The net margin increased by 15.7% to EUR 38,619 million, while commissions increased by 12.3% (EUR 10,502 million).
«2022 was another very good year for Santander: we have profitably increased the customer base and we have maintained a very solid balance sheet. As a result, earnings per share increased by 23% and the cash dividend by 16%,” said the president of the entity, Ana Botín.
Santander, which recalls in its statement that it has paid 4,486 million in income taxes (an effective rate of 29%), approved the first interim dividend against the results of the year, with two components: a cash payment of 5.83 cents per share, paid on November 2 and 20% higher than the corresponding payment in 2021, and a share repurchase program of up to EUR 979 million, which was completed on January 31, 2023.
For example, the total remuneration of the first payment responsible for the 2022 results amounted to more than EUR 1,900 million (16% more than that of 2021). Applying the same dividend payout ratio in the second payment against 20222 results would yield that number of 16% cash dividend per share increases over the prior year.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
