UK market shows signs of lagging behind for Santander
Santander has reported something of a mixed bag of results this morning, with growth flattening out on a number of measurements and its UK market showing signs of struggling under the weight of new taxes.
The figures
Overall profits at Banco Santander were €1.7bn (£1.5bn) for the third quarter of 2016, up one per cent on the same period the year before.
However, in the bank's UK division, profits attributable to the group came in at £311m for the third quarter, and dropped 11 per cent for the first nine months to £967m.
During the first nine months of the year, the UK market contributed 19 per cent of Santander's group profits.
Why it's important
Lower for longer interest rates are making it hard work for banks to pull in revenue these days. The bank has also come under fire in the UK for slashing interest rates on its popular 1,2,3 account shortly after the Bank of England's base rate was cut to 0.25 per cent.
However, the bank revealed today that UK 1,2,3 World customers had increased by 440,000 to 5.1m since the end of 2015.
However, in the UK, the bank pinned its woes in a different type of worry – the recent introduction of the eight per cent bank corporation tax surcharge.
In short
It is a bumpy road ahead in the banking world