Record half-year for bank

Linda Hall BANCO SANTANDER’S

€5.241 billion first­half results were the best in the bank’s history and 7.1 per cent more than the same period in 2022. This would have risen to 11.7 per cent without the impact of the €224 million windfall tax charged on 2022’s profits and paid this year.

The January­June figures exceeded analysts’ estimates who predicted a €5.151 billion profit, and the markets responded with shares rising almost 2 per cent on July 26 when the figures were announced.

Continual increases in interest rates, introduced over the last year by the European Central Bank (BCE) to combat inflation, boosted Santander’s performance in Europe.

“We are making good progress towards our goals of simplifying business procedures and making the most of our global

PUTIN’S expropriation of Danone and Carlsberg’s Russian assets could do his ambitions more harm than good.

“He is shooting himself in the foot because this will actually help the West to push back Putin by damaging the Russian economy,” reasoned Mark Dixon, founder of the Moral Rating Agency (MRA).

“It will bring Russia closer to a desert island economy,” he said. “The forced separation of democratic and undemocratic economies is critical for democracy to survive and prevail,” he declared, adding that the expropriated companies deserved their comeuppance.

“Danone and Carlsberg continued to profit from Russia after the invasion of

Still going

LEO MESSI’S Spanish companies had a €59.77 million turnover in 2021, the year he left FC Barcelona and moved to Paris San Germain.

Limecu España 2010, which handles Messi’s companies and image rights, made a €6 million profit in 2021, €550,000 less than the previous year, according to accounts recently published in Spain’s Registro Mercantil, equivalent to Companies House in the UK.

Limecu, which deals primarily with image rights, is administered by Rodrigo Martin Messi, the footballer’s brother who manages most of his business interests.

strengths,” Santander’s executive president Ana Botin said.

The bank’s gross income rose 11.5 per cent to €28.01 billion, bolstered by growth in net interest income, which rose 13.6 per cent to €20.92 billion. Net fees and commissions rose 4.3 per cent to €6.103 billion.

It is on these two areas that government calculates its temporary windfall tax charged on banks’ activities inside Spain, which is Santander’s principal market. During the first half of the year, the domestic market accounted for €3.161 billion in net interest income and €1.413 billion in net fees and commissions.

Europe was the group’s principal driving force during the first six months. Spain, whose customer base increased by 362,000, contributed €1.132 billion, displacing Brazil as the bank’s traditional source of non­Spanish earnings.