By Corrections & Amplifications
This headline was corrected at 0601 GMT because the fourth quarter revenue was misstated as EUR13.53B.
Banco Santander SA said Thursday that it expects higher profitability in 2023 after the bank reported a broadly flat net profit for the fourth quarter.
The Spanish lender
SAN,
+2.11%
SAN,
+1.74%
said it is targeting double-digit revenue growth and a return on tangible equity–a key measure of profitability–above 15% in 2023.
Santander said net profit for the fourth quarter was 2.29 billion euros ($2.52 billion) compared with EUR2.28 billion reported for the year-earlier period.
Total revenue for the fourth quarter grew to EUR13.52 billion from EUR11.78 billion a year before, with net interest income–the difference between what banks earn on loans and pay clients for deposits–coming in at EUR10.16 billion.
Analysts polled by FactSet expected Santander’s fourth-quarter net profit to be EUR2.14 billion on total revenue of EUR13.38 billion.
The bank’s fully-loaded core equity Tier 1 ratio–a measure of financial strength–was 12.04% at the end of the quarter, down from 12.10% as of Sept. 30.
For 2022, Santander’s return on tangible equity stood at 13.37%.
Write to Adria Calatayud at adria.calatayud@dowjones.com
