Spanish bank Santander has registered a 66% drop in profits for the first nine months of 2012, due to a €14.5bn (£11.6bn) provision for bad property loans in Spain.
Before the money for the Spanish property crash was put aside, the group’s pre-povision profit was more than €18bn, up 3%.
Chairman Emilio Botin said: “The bank’s capacity to generate profit enables us to set aside hefty real estate provisions in Spain in 2012 and significantly increase non-performing loan coverage.”
In the UK, profit was up 11% from the same period in 2011, loans fell 2% and deposits were up 1%.
The group as a whole has outstanding loans of €754bn against deposits of €642.6bn euros. In December 2008, the loan to deposit ratio stood at 178% against 107% now.
david.harris@estatesgazette.com
