Today, 28 April 2021, IBOS member Banco Santander has announced that it has achieved an attributable profit of €1,608 million in Q1 2021, up from €331 million compared to Q1 2020.
The Bank’s underlying profit was €2,138 million, up from €377 million a year earlier, which is an increase of 50% from Q4 2020, with record earnings in the US and strong growth in the UK.
Banco Santander’s strong performance is driven by good volume growth, i.e., +2% loans, +8% deposits. Businesses across the Group focused on customer support, revenue growth, effective net interest income management and ongoing cost control.
In Q1 2021, digital adoption continued to gain momentum, mainly due to the pandemic. Santander reached more than 44 million digital customers (+15% year-on-year). Fifty per cent of sales came through digital channels, up from 41% compared to Q1 2020. Santander’s loyal customers exceeded 23 million, up 9% in the last 12 months.
During Q1 2021, Santander closed the acquisition of Wirecard’s assets. This will speed up its expansion of Getnet in Europe, whilst enhancing its e-commerce and multinational merchant servicing capabilities. Getnet is part of PagoNxt, the new, autonomous cloud-native company created by the Bank by bringing together its most disruptive payment businesses. Getnet has more than 1.1 million merchant customers in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Chile. Its operations in Europe will launch in 2021, building on Wirecard’s infrastructure.
Read the full Q1 2021 financial report via Banco Santander here.
