SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, Jan. 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Santander BanCorp (the Corporation) (NYSE: SBP; LATIBEX: XSBP), announced today that it will publish its 4th quarter earnings release after February 8, 2006, when Banco Santander Central Hispano (Santander Spain), the Corporation's majority shareholder, will announce its results. The change of date is consistent with the policy of the Corporation's majority shareholder. Santander BanCorp is a publicly held financial holding company that is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (SBP) and on Latibex (Madrid Stock Exchange) (XSBP). Banco Santander Central Hispano, S.A. (Santander) owns 91% of the outstanding common stock of Santander BanCorp. The Company has four wholly owned subsidiaries, Banco Santander Puerto Rico, Santander Securities Corporation, Santander Insurance Agency and Santander Financial Services, Inc. Banco Santander Puerto Rico has been operating in Puerto Rico for nearly three decades. It offers a full array of services through 64 branches in the areas of commercial, mortgage and consumer banking, supported by a team of over 1,400 employees. Santander Securities offers securities brokerage services and provides portfolio management services through its wholly owned subsidiary Santander Asset Management Corporation. Santander Insurance Agency offers life, health and disability coverage as a corporate agent and also operates as a general agent. For more information, visit the Company's website at http://www.santandernet.com/. Santander (SAN.MC, STD.N) during 2005 ranked as the 9th largest bank in the world by market capitalization and the largest in the Euro Zone. Founded in 1857, Santander has euro 944,000 millions in managed funds, 63 million customers, more than 10,000 offices and a presence in over 40 countries. It is the largest financial group in Spain and Latin America, and is a major player elsewhere in Europe, including the United Kingdom through its Abbey subsidiary and Portugal, where it is the third largest banking group. Through Santander Consumer, it also operates a leading consumer finance franchise in Germany, Italy, Spain and nine other European countries. As of September 2005, Santander recorded euro 3,878 million in net attributable profits, 36.8% more than in the previous year. In Latin America, Santander manages over US$140 billion in banking business volumes (loans, deposits and mutual funds) through 4,000 offices in 10 countries. As of September 2005, Santander registered in Latin America a net income of US$1,705 million, 20.8% higher than prior year. DATASOURCE: Santander BanCorp CONTACT: Evelyn Vega, +1-787-777-4546, or Maria Calero, +1-787-777-4437 Web site: http://www.santandernet.com/

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