Strength of Abbey helps Santander to a half-year profit
SPANISH bank Santander is reaping the benefits from its acquisitions, as the first half attributable profit at its UK operations rose nearly 63 per cent to £790m, from £485m last year.
Santander-owned Abbey, including recent purchases Alliance & Leicester and the savings book of Bradford & Bingley, saw a 20 per cent rise in revenues over the six months to 30 June and said it had kept costs flat.
The solid performance in the UK helped the group to a first-half pre-tax profit of €5.9bn, down 5.3 per cent on last year’s €6.2bn.
A&L and B&B, which will be combined under the name Santander UK in 2010, contributed profits of £137m and £7m respectively.
Abbey has grabbed market share as rivals have withdrawn and is now the UK’s second largest mortgage lender with a share of around 16 per cent.
António Horta-Osório, Abbey’s charismatic chief executive, said the £612m acquisition of B&B’s £21bn deposit book and 197 branches had dramatically improved the unit’s funding position.
Santander also expects to achieve £180m in cost saving synergies from the integration of Abbey, A&L and B&B.