TOP CONTRIBUTORS

Ann H. Heffron

www.zacks.com

Jonathan J. Smith

Banco Santander Central Hispano, S.A. (or Santander), Spain's largest bank with 834 billion (US$1.1 trillion) in assets as of December 31, 2006, is the result of the 1999 merger between Banco Santander, S.A. and Banco Central Hispanoamericano, S.A. This comprehensive financial services provider has operations in other European countries and Latin America as well. Its activities are divided into three broad segments Retail Banking (contributing 84% of commercial revenue in 2006), Global Wholesale Banking (11%), and Asset Management and Insurance (5%). Retail Banking covers three major geographic areas: Continental Europe, Latin America, and the United Kingdom. The bank's European retail activities, including traditional retail banking, mortgage lending, bill discounting, leasing, factoring, insurance brokerage, asset management, and automobile financing, are extended to customers based in Spain, Portugal, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Poland, and Norway. The bank has a significant presence in Latin America, with 12 million individual customers, more than 500,000 SMEs (small-medium enterprises) and 4,000 branches. These operations are conducted primarily in South-Southeast Brazil (where Santander has a 10% market share), Chile (23%), Mexico (17%), Puerto Rico (11%), and Venezuela (15%). Santander is scaling back operations in Bolivia, Uruguay, Colombia, and Peru.

Business Overview

Business Financials

Business Segments

Continental Europe

From FY 2007 to FY 2008, Continental Europe segment net income increased 21%.^[1]

Abbey

Latin America

Global Units

From FY 2007 to FY 2008, Global Units net income increased 23%.^[1]

Trends and Forces

Competition

• BBVA Banco Frances S.A. (BFR)
• HSBC Holdings (HBC)
• Barclays (BCS)

References

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Banco Santander 2008 Annual Report
2. ↑ HSBC 2007 Annual Report
3. ↑ Barclays 2007 Annual Report