Banco Santander S.A. Sponsored ADR (SAN.US) expects profit growth and efficiency improvement, warning of risks of inflation and slowdown.

Banco Santander S.A. Sponsored ADR (SAN.US) Chairman Ana Botn said that the bank's efficiency will improve this quarter and pointed out that profits for the full year of 2026 are expected to grow. "In the first quarter of 2026, we continued the positive trend of the past few years, achieving double-digit growth in customer base and revenue; at the same time, costs are expected to decrease year-on-year when calculated at a fixed exchange rate," Botn said in a statement prepared for the annual shareholders' meeting of Banco Santander S.A. Sponsored ADR on Friday. Therefore, she expects "efficiency to improve by around 250 basis points". However, Botn also emphasized the increasing economic uncertainty. She pointed out, "The world is facing a situation of rising inflation and slowing growth, and over time, these threats are becoming increasingly likely." Earlier this year, Banco Santander S.A. Sponsored ADR agreed to acquire U.S. lending institution Webster (WBS.US) for $12 billion, marking the largest acquisition in history of a European continental bank of a U.S. Financial Institutions, Inc. This is also the third major transaction completed by Botn in less than a year - in April of last year, she sold the majority of Santander's Polish operations to Erste Group Bank AG for 7 billion euros (approximately $8.1 billion), and then acquired the UK lending institution TSB from Banco Sabadell SA. Benefiting from a high interest rate environment, the profitability of this Spanish bank has soared in recent years. After lagging behind its peers for a long time, its stock price more than doubled in 2025, making it the largest lending institution by market value on the European continent.