Banco Santander reported its most profitable quarter in 12 years with attributable and underlying profits of €2.3bn, up 5% YoY. Annually, attributable profit stood at €8.1bn vs. €8.8bn loss in 2020. The strong results were driven by a rebound in economic activity, with loans and deposits growing 4% and 6% each along with unwinding €750mn of Covid-related loan loss provisions. Santander said that the group’s cost-to-income ratio was among the best of its peer group at 46.2% during the year 2021, adding that it aims to bring it down to 40% in the medium-term. CEO Ana Botín confirmed Santander will consider a bid for Citi’s Banamex, the third-largest bank in Mexico. The group’s CET1 ratio stood at 12.12%, crossing the 12% mark for the first time as per FT. Santander also pledged to increase shareholder payouts above the current 40% threshold, split equally between dividends and share buybacks.
Santander’s dollar bonds were flat with USD 4.75% Perp at 96.78, yielding 5.52%.
UBS reported its most profitable annual results since 2006 with net profits rising to $7.5bn, up 14% YoY. During Q4 2021, it reported $1.3bn in net profits with its popular wealth management unit reporting a 35% growth in its profits before tax to $563mn and its investment banking operations seeing a similar growth to $713mn. UBS said that it intends to purchase up to $5bn of its shares in the next 12 months, almost double the $2.6bn buybacks for 2021. UBS’s AUM touched a new all-time high of $4.5tn. Its CET ratio stood at 15%.
UBS’s dollar bonds were stable with its 7% Perp at 109.63, yielding 3.59%.
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