Santander Earnings Hurt By Charge Tied to U.K. Unit -- WSJ

By Pietro Lombardi and Carlo Martuscelli

This article is being republished as part of our daily reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S. print edition of The Wall Street Journal (October 31, 2019).

Banco Santander SA (SAN.MC) said Wednesday that third-quarter net profit fell sharply as it reported a 1.49 billion-euro ($1.65 billion) charge related to its U.K. business, which has been hit by Brexit and regulatory changes.

Net profit for the period fell 75% to EUR501 million, the Spanish bank said. Total income rose 6% to EUR12.47 billion.

The lender had said previously that the charge was mostly due to a challenging regulatory environment, such as the negative impact of "ringfencing" rules, under which U.K. lenders must separate retail banking from riskier investment-banking operations. Another EUR103 million charge was booked on missold payment protection insurance.

The bank's core Tier 1 ratio--a key measure of balance-sheet strength--was 11.30% in September, unchanged from the end of June.

Write to Pietro Lombardi at pietro.lombardi@dowjones.com and Carlo Martuscelli at carlo.martuscelli@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 31, 2019 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)

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