The Spanish banking giant Santander, the largest bank in the eurozone by market capitalisation, all but wiped out its net income in the second quarter, collapsed by 92,8% to 100 million euros, following large provisions required by the supervisory authorities. A result significantly lower than market expectations, with the consensus estimate of the six analysts consulted by Dow Jones which stood at a profit of 1,404 billion.
The net intermediation margin in the same period recorded a rise of 6,3% to 7,678 billion euros. Over the entire six-month period, profit fell by 51% to 1,704 billion with a net intermediation margin that grew by 8,4% to 15,499 billion.
Without the provisions, the Spanish bank explained in a press release, the profit would have reached 12,503 billion, up 6%. The Spanish authorities have ordered the country's banks to 'clean' their balance sheets of risky real estate assets once and for all, a request which should lead to over 80 billion in new provisions for 2012.
