Banco Santander reaffirms its key shareholder targets for 2018

Bank confirms plans to increase Earnings Per Share (EPS) in 2016 and 2017, reaching double digits by 2018, and grow Dividend Per Share (DPS) and Tangible Net Asset Value (TNAV) Per Share every year.

London, September 30^th, 2016. Banco Santander confirmed today that it is on track to deliver the financial targets it set in last year’s Strategic Plan 2016-2018, despite an increasingly challenging macroeconomic environment.

Speaking in London with analysts and investors at the Banco Santander Group Strategy Update 2016, Ana Botin, Group Executive Chairman, said: “We have a clear and consistent strategy that is helping us earn the loyalty of customers across our 10 core markets. Our business model is continuing to generate predictable and sustainable returns and we are delivering on our financial and commercial commitments, despite the challenging environment.”

Over the last year, macroeconomic expectations have deteriorated in some of the markets in which the Group operates, particularly in the U.K. This has led to a depreciation of many currencies against the Euro and an expectation that interest rates will remain at record low levels for longer than expected. Moreover, regulatory uncertainty will continue in the coming years and tax pressure is also increasing in some of Banco Santander’s core countries.

Despite this context, Santander confirmed today that it is maintaining the key 2018 targets within its 2016-2018 Strategic Plan, including the commitment to increase dividend per share (DPS) and earnings per share (EPS) every year in the next three years. Santander also confirmed today that it will deliver against its target to increase the number of loyal customers to 18.5 million by 2018.

Furthermore, the Bank aims is to increase the number of digitally active customers from 15 million in 2015 to 30 million in 2018. In the last twelve months the number of loyal customers increased by 10% to 14.4 million, while digitally active customers increased by 23% to 19.1 million. Moreover, the average market share in SMEs and Corporates across the Bank increased by almost a half percentage point.

José Antonio Álvarez, Group Chief Executive Officer, said: “While the environment in some of our markets has deteriorated, our strategy and business model continues to deliver for our customers and shareholders. Our geographic diversification with strong market presence and best-in-class efficiency offers a clear competitive advantage that will allow us to benefit further as the economic environment improves.”

Presentations made.

Ana Botín
Executive Chairman
Group Strategy Update Presentation
(PDF 1747 Kb)

José Antonio Álvarez
Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Group Strategy Update Presentation
(PDF 1389 Kb)

Nathan Bostock
UK
Group Strategy Update Presentation
(PDF 1871 Kb)

Rami Aboukhair
Spain
Group Strategy Update Presentation
(PDF 1568 Kb)

Sérgio Rial
Brazil
Group Strategy Update Presentation
(PDF 1211 Kb)

Jose García Cantera
Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
Group Strategy Update Presentation
(PDF 1506 Kb)

Ana Botín
Concluding Remarks Executive Chairman
Group Strategy Update Presentation
(PDF 1122 Kb)

Santander suffered the lowest destruction of capital of any of its European peers in the adverse stress test scenario

Boadilla del Monte (Madrid), 29^th July 2016. With respect to the stress test exercise carried out by the European Banking Authority (EBA) and the European Central Bank (ECB) which has been applied to all countries where the Group operates and which covers a three-year period (2016 – 2018) with two scenarios (baseline and adverse); Santander announces that the results were as follows:

• Under the adverse scenario, its fully loaded CET1 ratio as of December 31st 2018 decreases 1.99 percentage points, to 8.2%, from the starting point of 10.2% as of December 31st 2015. In this adverse scenario, CET1 ratio subject to Basel III transitional arrangements (phase-in) is 8.7% as of December 31st 2018, which implies a decrease of 4.02 percentage points from the starting 12.7%, due to the progressive coming into force of Basel III transitional deductions (2.03 percentage points).


• Under the baseline scenario, Santander’s fully loaded CET1 ratio increases 2.99 percentage points, to 13.2%. With phase-in criteria, CET1 ratio increases 0.53 percentage points.

Homaira Akbari joins the board of Banco Santander

Madrid, September 27, 2016. The Board of Directors of Banco Santander has agreed to name Homaira Akbari as an independent member of the Board. Ms. Akbari was nominated by the Bank’s Appointments’ Committee, filling the vacancy left by Angel Jado who has resigned from his position. Her appointment has received the necessary regulatory approvals and will be put forward for ratification at Banco Santander's next general shareholders meeting.

Following Ms. Akbari’s nomination, the Board of Directors of Banco Santander will increase its diversity, with greater international and sector representation. The bank will now have six women on the board, or 40% of its members, among the highest presence in international banking. The Board will continue to have 15 members of which a majority (eight) are independent.

Homaira Akbari has dual American and French nationality, earned a Ph.D. in particle physics from Tufts University and holds an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University. She has had an extensive corporate career in France and the United States. Ms. Akbari is CEO of global advisory firm AKnowledge Partners, which specializes in The Internet of Things, Security, Big Data and Analytics. She is a board member at several technology companies as well as the French service and utility company Veolia Environnment.

Banco Santander’s Group Executive Chairman, Ana Botín, said: “The Bank is very proud to have Homaira join our board of directors. Her skills and professional experience will be extremely useful for Santander as we move ahead in our digital transformation. Her broad cultural and professional background will make us a better bank”.

“I would also like to express my gratitude to Angel Jado for his commitment, dedication and the significant contribution he has made to the Bank. Over the years, his advice and strategic vision were very valuable to the board and to me personally”. Mr Jado was a member of the board of directors in two different periods throughout the Group’s history, from 1972 to 1998 and from 2010 to 2016.

Banco Santander, ranked among the top ten banks in the world by the Dow Jones Sustainability Index

Madrid, 8^th September, 2016. Banco Santander maintains its presence in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) for another year. The DJSI is the international benchmark that measures the sustainable behavior of companies on an economic, environmental and social scale.

For the 2016 judging process, 193 financial entities were invited by the Dow Jones-owned ranking agency, RobecoSAM, to participate in the evaluation process. 27 made the cut.

With a final score of 92 points out of 100, Banco Santander is recognized by the Dow Jones Sustainability Index as one of the 10 best banks in the world and the first in Spain for its dedication to sustainability, its contribution to social progress in the markets where it is present and for its protection of the environment.

The social and environmental corporate policies, service quality, recruiting and retaining talent, social support programmes, the commitment to the environment and management of the risks and opportunities that climate change presents are some of the most noteworthy factors considered by the DJSI.

Banco Santander’s main purpose is to contribute to the economic and social progress of people and businesses in a responsible and sustainable way. It supports numerous initiatives in support of the community with a special commitment to higher education, which as the main focus of its social investment.

189,675 professionals.

Human Resources continued to focus on people and in the third quarter reviewed the corporate segmentation of executives in order to adapt the structure to the new culture and adjust it to the organisation and the current challenges.

In order to improve the working environment, the following actions were launched:

• • Globlal commitment survey conducted throughout the Group, for the third time.
• • Be Healthy, a global health and wellbeing programme in various countries.
• • Solaruco Pop Up, an initiative to extend the knowledge shared in the Corporate Centre of Knowledge and Development to all the Group’s professionals.
• • Further progress in Flexiworking.

124 million customers.

• • Of note among the measures for improving customer loyalty is the 1|2|3 strategy in Spain, Portugal and the UK, and consolidation of differentiated value offers in Brazil, Mexico, Chile and Argentina.
• • More important changes were also made to the commercial NEO CRM tools and we continued to transform the distribution network by improving the technology platforms and increasing digital capacities.
• • The objective is to enhance the customer experience, strengthen the relationship and loyalty via technological advances that enable us to have a unique vision and offer different channels and products. In short, let the customer decide when, how and where they want to be tended to (anytime, anywhere, anyhow).

3.9 million shareholders.

• • The Group held in London on September 30th its first Group Strategy Update, at which senior management explained to analysts and international investors the progress made by the Group since the last Investor Day.
• • EBA’s stress test: shareholders and investors were told the Group’s results.
• • Santander App Shareholders and Investors: updating and renewal of the app, incorporating the latest technological advances.
• • Becas Capacitas: scholarships for university studies for shareholders and families with disabilities.

1.2 million people helped in 2015.

• • Spin 2016 was held in Santiago de Compostela, the largest entrepreneurial event for Latin American university students, attended by more than 2,300 entrepreneurs, students and investors.
• • Workshop organized by Madrid’s Complutense University and the Institute for Global Law and Policy at Harvard University, with the participation of 90 young doctors from 50 countries, which discussed issues to do with global policies and internationalization.
• • Primus Inter Pares prize presented to Portugal’s three best university students in economics, engineering and management.