Banco Santander posted a net profit of €14.101 billion in 2025, a 12% increase year-on-year (16% increase at constant exchange rates), marking another record year. The bank also reached 180 million customers for the first time, adding eight million during the year, as reported by the CNMV (Spanish National Securities Market Commission). According to the bank, these "solid" results are due to strong net interest income (€42.348 billion, down 3.3%), record fee income, and efficiency improvements, along with positive developments in credit quality. The non-performing loan ratio improved to 2.91% (down 14 basis points), remaining at historically low levels, with a solid coverage ratio of 66%, reflecting prudent lending practices and a continuous focus on monitoring and early risk identification.

Banco Santander and the Austrian entity Erste Group Bank announced this Friday the completion of the sale of the Spanish bank's subsidiary in Poland, Santander Bank Polska. announced in May 2025Once the corresponding regulatory approvals have been obtained and the transaction completed, Erste has acquired 49% of Santander Bank Polska's share capital and a 50% stake in its Polish asset management business (TFI), which the Polish bank did not previously control, for a total cash amount of approximately €7 billion. The transaction, priced at 584 zlotys (€138 at the current exchange rate) per share, values the bank at 2.2 times its tangible book value per share for the first quarter of 2025 and represents a 7.5% premium over Santander Bank Polska's closing share price on May 2, 2023. The acquisition is valued at €1.9 billion for Banco Santander. The bank explains that the financial impacts of this transaction, both on earnings and capital, will be recorded in the first quarter of 2026. Banco Santander reaffirmed on Friday its intention to allocate approximately 50% of the funds obtained from this transaction to accelerate the execution of the corresponding extraordinary share buyback programs. Furthermore, it expects the transaction in Poland to have a positive impact on earnings per share in 2027-2028, through capital reinvestment, and to strengthen its strategic and financial flexibility. In this regard, it notes that this Polish transaction will also support the announced acquisition of TSB in the UK from Sabadell, subject to the corresponding regulatory approvals. Banco Santander maintains its presence in Poland with consumer credit.

With the closing of the transaction, Erste becomes the main shareholder of Santander Bank Polska, marking a "new stage" for the institution. In fact, Banco Santander explains that the Austrian group plans to change the name and brand of Santander Bank Polska to Erste Bank Polska in the second quarter of 2026. Following the closing of the sale, and the accelerated placement of approximately 3.5% of Santander Bank Polska's capital completed in December, Banco Santander now holds a stake. Finally, as previously announced, Banco Santander has become the sole owner of Santander Consumer Bank in Poland after acquiring the remaining 60% stake it did not already own. The Spanish banking group indicates that it will maintain its presence in Poland through its consumer finance business.

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BBVA – which has accelerated shareholder payouts after The takeover bid for Banc Sabadell failed– has been among the last to increase its share buyback programs, by an amount of nearly €4 billion, the largest in the company's history. With this latest operation, share buybacks by the major Spanish companies in the Ibex 35 will exceed €14 billion this year, at the same levels as the previous year, maintaining the upward trend of this shareholder remuneration method.

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The highest-paid executives at Spain's 40 largest companies earned 111 times the average salary of their employees, who would have to work for a century to earn what these executives earned in a single year. This is according to the latest edition of the report. Wage gaps in large companiesA report published this Tuesday by Oxfam Intermón delves into the "abysmal" wage gap perpetuated by the country's largest corporations. Despite the growth of the Spanish economy in recent years—GDP has rebounded by an average of 4.74% since 2020—the organization criticizes the fact that this prosperity has not reached the pockets of many citizens. Almost one in three believe their current income does not allow them to live a decent life. In fact, half of all salaried workers earn at most 1.5 times the national minimum wage (SMI), which is currently €1,184 gross per month, paid in 14 installments. Although employees of large companies earn 63% more than the national average, the report emphasizes that it is in these companies where pay disparities skyrocket, "due to the exorbitant salaries of their top executives."

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Banco Santander is enjoying a winning streak. This Wednesday, the bank, chaired by Ana Botín, presented its results for the third quarter of 2025, in which it once again broke profit records. Specifically, Santander achieved a net profit of €10.337 billion through September, 11% higher than in the same period of the previous year, reaching its best historical result for this period, according to the bank. Banco Santander CEO Héctor Grisi stated during the presentation to analysts that he expects "positive momentum" in net interest income in Spain through 2026, after it improved by 1% in the third quarter. "Net interest income in Spain has improved significantly. [...] We expect it to continue with low single-digit growth in the fourth quarter, compared to our previous forecast where we expected it to remain flat," Grisi commented.

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Banco Santander is proud of its acquisition of the British subsidiary TSB in Banc Sabadell. For the bank chaired by Ana Botín, the acquisition, which has occurred in the midst of the hostile takeover bid by BBVA, is a perfect fit for them, in the words of CEO Héctor Grisi. To acquire TSB, Santander will pay €3.1 billion, which Sabadell has used to announce an extraordinary dividend just as the takeover bid is finalized. In any case, the Vallesan bank's shareholders will have to ratify the sale at a general shareholders' meeting on August 6. This will also include the distribution of the extraordinary dividend (€2.5 billion).

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"These are very good results." This is how Banco Santander's CEO, Héctor Grisi, defended the bank's first-quarter earnings. The bank, chaired by Ana Botín, achieved a record profit of €3.402 billion between January and March, representing a 19% increase over the same period last year. The increase is the result of record commission income and reduced costs, as reported by the company through the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV). However, the market is not initially in its favor. At 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, the bank's share price fell more than 5%. "The entire European banking sector is falling today," Grisi said, aiming to downplay the stock's performance.

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Have companies buying their own shares gone crazy? Some people are asking, given the trend, which last year amounted to more than €167 billion worldwide; this year, they are poised to continue along these lines of shareholder compensation. The trend has also taken hold in Spain and doesn't seem to be stopping. Since the beginning of 2025, transactions of this type worth more than €7 billion have been registered with the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV), involving companies on the main stock market index, the Ibex 35, but also companies listed on the continuous market.

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A resounding defeat for Ana Botín, the president of Banco Santander, in the case that confronted her with Andrea Orcel. Santander will have to pay €68m over the botched signing of Orcel, as Madrid Court no 46 has decided. The bank has already said it will appeal.

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