Santander lifts cash dividend as underlying profit rises

The Tip Desk · October 30, 2026 · 3 min read

Underlying attributable profit reached €3,848 million in the third quarter, up 19% year on year, as net interest income rose 2% sequentially to €11,833 million.

Banco Santander, S.A. (SAN) reported underlying attributable profit of €3,848 million in the third quarter of 2026, up 2% from €3,762 million in the second quarter and 19% year on year. Statutory attributable profit for the nine months to September was €12.41 billion, 20% above a year earlier, after a €1,895 million capital gain on the Poland disposal in the first quarter and €666 million of M&A integration charges in both the second and third quarters.

Net interest income rose to €11,833 million from €11,654 million in the second quarter, a 2% sequential increase the bank attributed to the TSB and Webster acquisitions. Group net interest margin held at 2.71%. Santander said the quarter’s NIM was mainly affected by UF in Retail Chile, seasonality, mix in Retail Brazil and normalization in CIB, mainly in Global Markets. Total revenue was €15,866 million, 1% higher than the second quarter. Net fee income was €3,478 million, essentially unchanged from €3,482 million in the second quarter.

The efficiency ratio for the nine months to September 2026 was 42.6%. Costs were 4% lower ex. M&A in the quarter, with significant savings in Retail and Openbank. For the nine months, net operating income was €26,882 million, 14% above the year-earlier period in current euros. Underlying RoTE was 16.0%, 1.1 percentage points higher year on year.

Cost of risk was 1.16% in the third quarter, 3 basis points higher year on year. Retail CoR excluding Argentina was 1.08%, described as fairly stable both year on year and sequentially. Openbank CoR was 2.10%, up 4 basis points year on year and broadly stable sequentially; Openbank US CoR was 1.39%, down 24 basis points year on year. Loan-loss provisions for the nine months were €10,060 million.

CIB nine-month profit was €2,433 million, 15% higher year on year, with RoTE of 19.2%. CIB loans were €178 billion and deposits €150 billion. Retail loans were €697 billion and deposits €711 billion. Openbank loans were €231 billion and deposits €177 billion; Openbank US had raised $11 billion of deposits since launch. Wealth profit was €1,651 million, 19% higher, with AuMs of €588 billion. Payments profit was €1,175 million, 15% higher, with Getnet TPV of €198 billion.

CET1 was 12.7% at September 2026. The bank said it had delivered about €9 billion of its at-least-€10 billion 2025-26 share-buyback commitment, including a €1.8 billion buyback against first-half 2026 results that was underway. Cash DPS was raised to €12.70 cents a share, payable from 2 November 2026, from €12.50 cents paid in May 2026. TNAVps plus cash DPS was 6.17 cents versus 5.92 cents at September 2025.

Santander said it was comfortably on track to deliver its targets, with all global businesses contributing to mid-teens profit growth. Financials across the presentation incorporated Webster’s results for the first time, once incorporated into the Group on 20 August.