Banco Santander have posted an increase in net profit of 7%, € 6.619 billion, for 2017.
The figure was affected by charges of € 897 million which were required to take care of the US tax reform and the restructuring of Banco Popular.
The increase in profit beat the expectations of analysts who forecast it to be € 6.455 billion, a 2% year on year decrease.
The profit and loss account of the company shows non-recurrent gains made from the sale of 50% of the Allfunds platform (€ 370 million) and benefits from the US tax reform (€ 73 million). The restructuring of Banco Popular cost almost € 1.270 billion.
Brazil is the main profit driver, contributing to 265 of profits. It is the second largest market for the bank.
A statement made by the bank’s chairwoman, Ana Botin, said, “We see a lot of organic growth opportunities accompanying our 133 million clients. In 2018, we predict there will be growth in all our main markets. We will invest even more in global digital platforms to provide better services, more efficiently, to more clients.”
