Banco Santander has registered €1.75bn in net profit for the third quarter of 2020 compared to a net loss of €11.13bn in the second quarter of the year.
The Spanish banking group said that the third quarter witnessed an upturn in revenue, cost control, and lower provisions, when compared to the previous quarter.
Banco Santander performance impacted by Covid-19
For the first nine months of 2020 (9M 2020), the group reported a 40.8% decline in underlying attributable profit at €3.66bn compared to €6.18bn in the first nine months of 2019. The bank said that the decreased profit in 9M 2020 was driven by an increase in loan-loss provisions, amounting to €9.56bn, which was attributable to the coronavirus pandemic.
Banco Santander said that despite a profitable third quarter, its 9M 2020 performance continued to be impacted by the economic deterioration resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic. It was also affected by the sharp exchange rate depreciation which distorted the year-on-year comparison, said the banking group.
In Q3 2020, the group’s net interest income was up by 0.8% to €7.77bn compared to €7.71bn in Q2 2020. For 9M 2020, the net interest income was €23.97bn, which is a 9.3% decline compared to €26.44bn in 9M 2019.
The total income for Q3 2020 was up by 3.6% to €11bn compared to €10.7bn in Q2 2020. For 9M 2020, the total income was down by 8.9% from €36.9bn in 9M 2019 to €33.6bn.
Compared to 9M 2019, the number of employees and the number of branches for Banco Santander in 9M 2020 came down by 4.2% and 9.2%, respectively.
Banco Santander CEO José Antonio Álvarez said: “All the regions are performing better than in the previous quarter. In the first 9 months, we maintained a solid top line performance.
“The pre-provision profit under this scenario, and I want to stress you this, in constant euros, grew 3%, driven by resilient customer revenue and our cost reduction plan.”
Last month, the Spanish banking group announced the spin-off of its fintech venture capital unit through the launch of Mouro Capital. The newly created entity will be an autonomously managed venture capital fund that will focus on investing in fintechs and businesses associated with financial services.
