Santander announces buyback plan while CA also sees earnings rise

Spain’s Santander has reported a record profit of €12.57bn and revealed plans for more share buybacks. France’s Crédit Agricole, meanwhile, has recorded a rise in net income.

Shares in Banco Santander rose on Wednesday after the Spanish lender announced a record profit in the fourth quarter of 2024, also bringing full-year profit to an unprecedented total.

Thanks to robust earnings and a rosy outlook, the bank said it intends to buy back €10 billion of its own shares in the coming years.

Net income for the last three months of the year came in at €3.27bn, growing 11% year-on-year.

Profit for the year came in at €12.57bn, a 14% annual rise – and the third consecutive yearly record.

Net interest income, meanwhile, increased by 8%, driven by net customer growth of eight million to 173mn.

The bank’s return on tangible equity (RoTE) increased from 15.1% to 16.3%.

Santander’s success can partly be attributed to robust lending income, although revenue from loans is set to fall in 2025 with banks on a rate-cutting trajectory.

“Santander is in a new era of value creation, and we are confident that our scale, diversification and the impact of our transformation will enable us to increase profitability again in 2025”, said Ana Botín, Banco Santander executive chair, in the earnings statement.

She added that costs are expected to fall this year while revenue will remain stable at around €62bn.

For 2025, the bank is also forecasting “mid-high single digit growth” in net fee income and a RoTE above 17%.

Crédit Agricole

French lender Crédit Agricole SA (CA) also reported record yearly and quarterly earnings on Wednesday, beating analysts’ estimates.

Fourth-quarter net income came in at €1.69bn, a 27% year-on-year increase.

Revenue, meanwhile, totalled €7.09bn in the final three months of the year, a 17.4% annual rise.

CA’s attributed the strong results to success in its asset management and insurance units, as well as corporate and investment banking.

Robust growth was also seen in retail banking and consumer finance.

“The Group’s excellent results illustrate our overall capacity to support all our customers in a global and loyal relationship over the long term”, said Dominique Lefebvre, chairman of Crédit Agricole’s board of directors, in Wednesday’s earnings statement.

Philippe Brassac, Crédit Agricole’s CEO added: “Crédit Agricole S.A. has once again exceeded all the financial objectives of its strategic plan, one year ahead of schedule.”

The bank announced a dividend of €1.10 per share for 2024, up 5% compared to 2023.

CA also referenced its dealings with Italian lender Banco BPM in Wednesday’s statement.

Already Banco BPM’s largest shareholder, the French lender is raising its stake in the Italian bank from 9.9% to 15.1%.

The move comes as the larger Italian lender UniCredit is seeking to secure more ownership of Banco BPM.