A sign is hanging from a branch of Banco Santander in London, UK, on Wednesday, February 3, 2010.
Simon Dawson | Bloomberg through Getty Images
Santander said Wednesday that its net profit in the fourth quarter fell 90% to 277 million euros ($ 333.45 million) compared to the same quarter in 2019 due to restructuring costs, mostly in Spain, and higher preparations to obtain the effect of COVID-19.
Analysts surveyed by Reuters expected Santander to retain an average net profit of 411 million euros, although estimates varied from 102 million euros to 616 million euros.
In total, Santander reported a record annual net loss of 8.77 billion euros, the first ever annual loss, after one-time costs worth 12.6 billion euros sidelined as the disease panorama on previously purchased money.
With regard to the payment of the allowance against 2020, the board of directors intends to pay a cash allowance of 0.0275 euros per share, the maximum allowable amount set by the limits set by the European Central Bank (ECB) in his recommendation in December last year.