Spain – October 31, 2026 -- Banco Santander reported a record underlying profit of €11,176 million for the first nine months of 2026, up 16% year-on-year, as the TSB and Webster acquisitions lifted its customer base to 189 million. Attributable profit rose 20% to €12,405 million.
Disposal gain lifts attributable profit above underlying result
Attributable profit includes a €1.9 billion net capital gain from the completed sale of Santander Bank Polska in January. This was partly offset by €666 million in charges, including integration costs tied to TSB and Webster. Underlying results exclude these non-recurring items.
Underlying return on tangible equity (RoTE) reached 16.0%, up 1.1 percentage points. Statutory earnings per share rose 25%, and tangible net asset value plus cash dividend per share rose 11%.
Acquisitions add eight million customers as loans and funds grow 16%
Santander added 17 million customers over twelve months, including eight million from TSB and Webster. The deals closed on 30 April and 20 August, respectively. Loans and customer funds (deposits plus mutual funds) both grew 16% in constant euros. Excluding acquisitions, loans rose 6% and customer funds 8%, with deposits up 6%.
Total revenue climbed 8% to €46,807 million. Net interest income rose 10% to €34,614 million (+7% excluding M&A), and net fee income rose 9% to €10,349 million. About 95% of group revenue is linked to customer activity.
Costs fall 1% excluding acquisitions, pushing efficiency ratio to 42.6%
Total costs fell 1% excluding TSB and Webster (-2% in constant euros), which the bank attributes to ONE Transformation, its move to a common operating model on shared global platforms. Net operating income grew 14% to €26,882 million, and the efficiency ratio improved 2.8 percentage points to 42.6%.
AI deployment generated €194 million of business value through higher revenue, lower costs and lower loan-loss provisions.
Argentina drives 13% rise in loan-loss provisions
Loan-loss provisions increased 13% (+10% in constant euros), mainly on market trends in Argentina. Excluding Argentina, provisions rose 6% in constant euros, in line with organic loan growth. Cost of risk was 1.16%. The non-performing loan ratio improved 3 basis points from the previous quarter to 2.90%, with 64% coverage.
The CET1 ratio stood at 12.7%, after a 147 basis point hit from the Webster acquisition. Excluding that impact, it rose 14 basis points in the quarter, helped by 19 basis points of net organic capital generation. Santander is on track for its year-end CET1 target of 12.8% to 13%.
Santander sets €1.8bn buyback and 12.70-cent interim dividend
The board approved an interim cash dividend of 12.70 euro cents per share, 10% above the 2025 equivalent, payable on 2 November. In August, the bank launched a share buyback of up to c.€1.8 billion against H1 2026 results. Total shareholder remuneration for H1 will be about €3,660 million, up 8% and equal to roughly 50% of H1 underlying profit. With this programme, Santander will have delivered c.€9 billion toward its plan to distribute at least €10 billion through buybacks against 2025 and 2026 results and excess capital.
Wealth and CIB lead profit growth; Openbank hit by UK motor finance provisions
Variations below are in constant euros.
- Retail & Commercial Banking: underlying profit rose 12% to €6,445 million, with RoTE at 17.7%. Digital sales grew 19%.
- Openbank: profit before tax was €2,544 million excluding UK motor finance provisions, up 13%. Underlying profit was €1,407 million, affected by those provisions and the end of US electric vehicle tax incentives in 2025. Cost of risk was 2.10% and the efficiency ratio 40.4%.
- CIB: underlying profit rose 15% to €2,433 million on 14% revenue growth. RoTE was 19.2%.
- Wealth Management & Insurance: underlying profit rose 19% to €1,651 million. Assets under management hit a record €588 billion (+11%), and insurance gross written premiums rose 20% to €10 billion.
- Payments: underlying profit more than doubled to €105 million on 15% revenue growth. Getnet Platforms processed 14 billion transactions, three times the prior-year level. Ebury's active customers rose 25% to 29,500. The EBITDA margin improved 2.4 percentage points to 34.0%.
Santander reiterates 2026 targets and 2028 goal of RoTE above 20%
The 2026 targets exclude M&A impact. They are mid-single-digit revenue growth, lower costs in constant euros, profit above 2025's €14.1 billion and CET1 of 12.8% to 13%. Net fee income is expected to grow faster than net interest income. By 2028, the bank targets RoTE above 20%, profit above €20 billion and more than 210 million customers.