A week before closing the first quarter of 2024, Santander has already calculated how the year will go and has just announced at its general meeting of shareholders, which is being held this Friday in the Madrid town of Boadilla del Monte, the message that It will distribute more than 6,000 million euros among its shareholders in the form of dividends and share buybacks.
The bank's policy is to allocate 50% of the profit to shareholders, so the figure offered today has a broader message. It will earn at least 12,000 million euros, which means surpassing its profit record for 2023, of 11,076 million euros.
With these profits, Santander will have recorded the second largest profit of an Ibex corporation of all time. The Indo-European steel company ArcelorMittal, which is listed on the selective due to its historical connection with Aceralia, earned just over 13 billion in 2021. Telefónica's greatest profit is 8,137 million, compared to Inditex's 5,381 million, Iberdrola's 4,803 million or Repsol's 4,251 million.
"I have great confidence in closing 2024 much better than 2023, which was already a great year, and that we will meet our objectives for the year. The bank plans to allocate more than 6,000 million euros in cash dividends and share repurchases with charge to the 2024 results," Botín assured shareholders.
His speech has been interrupted four times by applause from shareholders. It has been after recognizing the work of the employees, by highlighting the work of Héctor Grisi as CEO, by reporting the dividend and by announcing the forecast for improvement in 2024. "We have the best team of managers in the history of Santander" and "Grisi is doing a great job of transforming the bank," he said.
He has also explained that the investment in Santander has had "an annual return of 20%" since 2021. A shareholder who had invested 1,000 euros on that date would now have 1,424 euros, thanks to the distribution of dividends and buybacks.
The president of the bank has also launched a message in view of the European elections in June and the future European Commission. She has described as "urgent" a joint position to improve the competitiveness of Spanish companies against China and the United States.
"The new Commission will have the great challenge of addressing the reforms necessary to address this enormous challenge," said Botín. He also called for an "acceleration" in the distribution of European funds.
Botín, who will complete ten years in office in 2024, has reported that the bank expects to obtain a return on tangible capital (RoTE) of 16% in the first quarter once annualized the impact of the extraordinary banking tax, which In accounting terms it was recorded in January.
With last year's record results, the bank has already distributed 5.5 billion euros between share buybacks and dividends to investors. "2024 has begun with excellent business dynamics and results," is now Botin's message.
Santander continues to grow in customers with the incorporation of 2 million more in the first quarter, which will contribute to revenue growth of around 9% in the first quarter. Costs have now been flat for three quarters, so the efficiency ratio will rise, up to 42.7% at the end of the first quarter.
"Only a few banks have a unique combination of local and global scale, and diversification. This is a great competitive advantage today, and in coming years it will increase," said Botín.
The bank is developing a strategy to consolidate itself as a global corporation. Grisi explained that, after the reorganization of the organizational chart, the focus is on the simplification and automation of the business with the support of the common technological platform in all countries, called Gravity.
"The diversification of Santander's business will increasingly be an advantage" in the face of global uncertainties, stated the president of the bank.
