Santander
increases its cash dividend per share by 50% for 2023 and launches
a new €1.5 billion share buyback
· Santander submits a final cash
dividend for 2023 of 9.50 euro cents per share for approval
at the forthcoming annual
general meeting (AGM).
· With this new payment and the new share buyback, the bank's
shareholder remuneration for the 2023 results will total over €5.5
billion, approximately 50% of the group attributable profit in that
year[1] and representing an equivalent
yield of approximately 10%[2].
· The board of directors of Banco Santander also submits the
appointments of Carlos Barrabés and Antonio Weiss as new
independent directors for approval at the AGM.
Madrid, 19
February 2024 -
PRESS RELEASE
The board of directors of Banco
Santander today announced its decision to submit a final
cash dividend for 2023 of 9.50 euro cents per
share for approval at the forthcoming annual general meeting (AGM),
expected to be held on 22 March 2024. As a result, the total cash
dividend per share charged to 2023 results will be 17.60 euro
cents, an increase of approximately 50% compared to the cash
dividend against 2022. Furthermore, the bank has received the
regulatory approval to execute a share buyback programme for an
approximate amount of €1.5 billion, which will be launched on
Tuesday 20 February 2024.
The final cash dividend will be paid
on 2 May 2024 and the shareholder remuneration against the 2023
results will total over €5.5 billion, representing an equivalent yield of approximately
10%2. Once the new share buyback programme is completed
by next June, Santander will have repurchased approximately 11% of
its outstanding shares since 2021.
With these new payments, Santander's
payout ratio (the proportion of earnings distributed to
shareholders) increases from 40% to 50% of attributable
profit1, consistent with the new remuneration policy
announced at the bank's Investor Day a year ago.
Ana
Botín, Banco Santander executive chair, said: "Our strategy and
competitive advantages have proven to deliver sustainable,
increasing profitability and growth, year after year. After record
performance in 2023, we continue to invest for future growth while
increasing shareholder returns, returning more than €5.5 billion
through dividends and buybacks, which represents an equivalent
yield of approximately 10%. We are already seeing good progress in
2024 and expect to achieve all our targets for this year, including
a return on tangible equity of 16%."
New board members
The board of directors of Banco
Santander also submitted the appointments of Carlos Barrabés and
Antonio Weiss as new independent directors for approval at the AGM,
subject to regulatory authorisations. Mr Barrabés and Mr Weiss will
fill the vacancies that will be left by Bruce Carnegie-Brown, who
will be stepping down after this year's AGM, and Ramiro Mato, who
has also informed of his intention to not stand for re-election and
leave the board of directors after the AGM, once the regulatory
approval for the appointment of Antonio Weiss is
obtained.
Mr Barrabés is considered an
influential e-commerce pioneer. He brings vast experience of the
Spanish market, especially in digitalization and innovation, with a
focus on using technology for socio-economic development, promoting
talent, and helping people and institutions get the most out of the
digital transformation. Mr Weiss brings extensive experience of the
US market, which is one of the group's strategic markets, and in
particular in the financial sector, where he has held different
executive positions, and in relevant public policy
matters.
Ana
Botín said: "It has been a real privilege and honor
to have Bruce as our lead director and very much appreciate his
outstanding contribution and counsel to our progress over almost a
decade. We are also very grateful to Ramiro for his contribution to
Santander's board and we will miss them both. Carlos and
Antonio bring great innovation and digital
expertise and financial capabilities as well as business
experience to our board of directors. I look forward to working
together."
Santander's board of directors has
15 members, of which two thirds are independent. Members provide a
broad variety of professional expertise and diversity in
nationality and skills. Furthermore, 40% of its members are
women.
Note to editors:
Carlos Barrabés is president
and founder of Grupo Barrabés, which offers advisory services to
large companies in digital transformation, innovation, new
technologies and e-commerce and internet, as well as to SMEs in
innovation and efficient use of technology in business processes.
He has been a member of the board of directors of the business unit
of Santander Spain, of the advisory board of Vodafone, director of
the Master Strategic Design Lab of the European Institute of Design
and of the MBA program at the School of Industrial Organization in
Madrid. Mr Barrabés was born in Spain in 1970.
Antonio Weiss is a partner in
investment firm SSW and a research fellow at Harvard Kennedy
School's Mossavar-Rahmani Center. He served in the Obama
Administration as Counselor to the Secretary of the U.S. Department
of the Treasury, where he oversaw the department of Domestic
Finance. Previously, Mr. Weiss served for over twenty years in
various leadership roles at Lazard in New York and Paris, including
as Global Head of Investment Banking. Mr. Weiss is a director of
The Volcker Alliance, a trustee of the Citizens Budget Commission
and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is a
trustee and past publisher of the leading literary quarterly, The
Paris Review. He was born in New York in 1966 and is a dual
citizen of the U.S. and Italy.
Important
information
Non-IFRS and alternative performance
measures
This document contains financial
information prepared according to International Financial Reporting
Standards (IFRS) and taken from our consolidated financial
statements, as well as alternative performance measures (APMs) as
defined in the Guidelines on Alternative Performance Measures
issued by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) on 5
October 2015, and other non-IFRS measures. The APMs and non-IFRS
measures were calculated with information from Grupo Santander;
however, they are neither defined or detailed in the applicable
financial reporting framework nor audited or reviewed by our
auditors. We use these APMs and non-IFRS measures when planning,
monitoring and evaluating our performance. We consider them to be
useful metrics for our management and investors to compare
operating performance between periods. APMs we use are presented
unless otherwise specified on a constant FX basis, which is
computed by adjusting comparative period reported data for the
effects of foreign currency translation differences, which distort
period-on-period comparisons. Nonetheless, the APMs and non-IFRS
measures are supplemental information; their purpose is not to
substitute IFRS measures. Furthermore, companies in our industry
and others may calculate or use APMs and non-IFRS measures
differently, thus making them less useful for comparison purposes.
APMs using ESG labels have not been calculated in accordance with
the Taxonomy Regulation or with the indicators for principal
adverse impact in SFDR. For further details on APMs and Non-IFRS
Measures, including their definition or a reconciliation between
any applicable management indicators and the financial data
presented in the consolidated financial statements prepared under
IFRS, please see the 2022 Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) on 1 March 2023
(https://www.santander.com/content/dam/santander-com/en/documentos/informacion-sobre-resultados-semestrales-y-anuales-suministrada-a-la-sec/2023/sec-2022-annual-20-f-2022-en.pdf),
as well as the section "Alternative performance measures" of Banco
Santander, S.A. (Santander) Q4 2023 Financial Report, published on
31 January 2024 (https://www.santander.com/en/shareholders-and-investors/financial-and-economic-information#quarterly-results).
Underlying measures, which are included in this document, are
non-IFRS measures.
The businesses included in each of
our geographic segments and the accounting principles under which
their results are presented here may differ from the businesses
included and local applicable accounting principles of our public
subsidiaries in such geographies. Accordingly, the results of
operations and trends shown for our geographic segments may differ
materially from those of such subsidiaries.
Forward-looking statements
Santander hereby warns that this
document contains "forward-looking statements" as per the meaning
of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such
statements can be understood through words and expressions like
"expect", "project", "anticipate", "should", "intend",
"probability", "risk", "VaR", "RoRAC", "RoRWA", "TNAV", "target",
"goal", "objective", "estimate", "future", "commitment", "commit",
"focus", "pledge" and similar expressions. They include (but are
not limited to) statements on future business development,
shareholder remuneration policy and NFI.
While these forward-looking
statements represent our judgement and future expectations
concerning our business developments and results may differ
materially from those anticipated, expected, projected or assumed
in forward-looking statements.
In particular, forward looking
statements are based on current expectations and future estimates
about Santander's and third-parties' operations and businesses and
address matters that are uncertain to varying degrees and may
change, including, but not limited to (a) expectations, targets,
objectives, strategies and goals relating to environmental, social,
safety and governance performance, including expectations regarding
future execution of Santander's and third-parties' (including
governments and other public actors) energy and climate strategies,
and the underlying assumptions and estimated impacts on Santander's
and third-parties' businesses related thereto; (b) Santander's and
third-parties' approach, plans and expectations in relation to
carbon use and targeted reductions of emissions, which may be
affected by conflicting interests such as energy security; (c)
changes in operations or investments under existing or future
environmental laws and regulations; (d) changes in rules and
regulations, regulatory requirements and internal policies,
including those related to climate-related initiatives; (e) our own
decisions and actions including those affecting or changing our
practices, operations, priorities, strategies, policies or
procedures; and (f) the uncertainty over the scope of actions that
may be required by us, governments and others to achieve goals
relating to climate, environmental and social matters, as well as
the evolving nature of underlying science and industry and
governmental standards and regulations.
In addition, the important factors
described in this document and other risk factors, uncertainties or
contingencies detailed in our most recent Form 20-F and subsequent
6-Ks filed with, or furnished to, the SEC, as well as other unknown
or unpredictable factors, could affect our future development and
results and could lead to outcomes materially different from what
our forward-looking statements anticipate, expect, project or
assume.
Forward-looking statements are
therefore aspirational, should be regarded as indicative,
preliminary and for illustrative purposes only, speak only as of
the date of this document, are informed by the knowledge,
information and views available on such date and are subject to
change without notice. Santander is not required to update or
revise any forward-looking statements, regardless of new
information, future events or otherwise, except as required by
applicable law. Santander does not accept any liability in
connection with forward-looking statements except where such
liability cannot be limited under overriding provisions of
applicable law.
Not
a securities offer
This document and the information it
contains does not constitute an offer to sell nor the solicitation
of an offer to buy any securities.
Past performance does not indicate future
outcomes
Statements about historical
performance or growth rates must not be construed as suggesting
that future performance, share price or results (including earnings
per share) will necessarily be the same or higher than in a
previous period. Nothing in this document should be taken as a
profit and loss forecast.