The Argentine subsidiary of Spain’s Santander (NYSE: STD) booked a 430mn-peso (US$111mn) net profit in last year’s fourth quarter, down 13% on 3Q09 due to lower gains from securities as well as higher provisions and expenses.
Santander Río posted a 16.2mn-peso profit in 4Q09 due to higher taxes and as the bank marked sovereign bonds to market, making them non-tax deductible.
The bank’s net interest income fell 11.6% quarter-on-quarter to 619mn pesos, with fee income growing 9.56% to 378mn pesos, the bank said in a press release.
Provisions for loan losses increased 45.6% to 96.7mn pesos in Q4, and administrative expenses grew 2.66% to 347mn pesos.
The bank’s loans to the private sector expanded by 2.47% to 13.7bn pesos in the year to end-December fueled by SME and consumer lending.
And as of December 31, Santander Río’s non-performing loan ratio for loans to the private sector deteriorated to 2.23% from 1.50% a year prior.
The Santander unit also said the country’s central bank has approved its purchase of the local retail banking operations of French bank BNP Paribas. The acquisition will see Santander Río add 30,000 retail customers, 900 corporate clients and 17 branches.
Santander Río is one of Argentina’s top three private sector banks, and at end-December the bank operated through 259 branches and 835 ATMs.
Similar Posts:
- Mining – Chile – Chuqui workers vote to strike from New Year’s Eve
- Telecommunications – Chile – Grupo Saieh acquires 20% of VTR
- Small businesses turn to their overdraft
- Small Business Loans Advice
- Will An ARC Loan Help Your Business?
