Spanish giant sees profits rise by 58% at its three UK brands
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Santander’s UK banking arm, which is made up of Abbey, Alliance & Leicester, and Bradford & Bingley, made a profit of £1.16bn in the first nine months of 2009.
Profit across the lender’s UK brands was up 58% compared with the same period last year. Loans increased by 43% and deposits rose by 46% following the integration of A&L.
The lender says its performance reflects some positive contributions from B&B and A&L, as together the brands added some £219m to the group’s profits. Excluding these results, profit was up 28% compared with the same period last year.
Santander’s overall group profit of €2.22bn in Q3 2009 was broadly level with last year. Profits for the first nine months at the Spanish banking giant were €6.74bn - some 2.8% lower than for the same time in 2008.
Santander acquired Abbey in 2004, the deposits and branch network of B&B in September 2008 and A&L last October.
All three operating companies will transfer to Santander branding next year, creating a UK network of more than 1,300 branches for the group.
The lender says that the three firms are an integral part of its growth strategy in this country.
Across its UK businesses Santander is now operating on a loans to deposits ratio of 128%, down from 143% in Q3 2008.
The lender says its UK mortgage book does not include exposure to either self-cert or sub-prime deals, and adds that only 1% of its portfolio involves buy-to-let loans.
Gross income for the UK brands grew 65.4%. Abbey’s share of gross mortgage lending was 14.6% in the first nine months of 2009.
Santander says its focus continues to be on the quality of its new lending based on LTVs.
The lender’s average LTV in new loans has remained virtually flat at around 60% in the past three quarters, while the LTV of its existing stock is 53%.
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