Banco Santander's shares, at 446p, are well down on our sell tip (533p, 9 Feb 2012) and, after revealing a grim set of half-year figures, that's not surprising.
IC TIP:
Sell
at
446p
The struggling Spanish lender's half-year pre-tax profit slumped 51 per cent year on year to €2.68bn (£2.12bn) as loan loss provisions soared 42 per cent to €6.54bn. In fact, and driven by the property market collapse in Spain, the bank's non-performing Spanish loans stand at a painful 5.98 per cent of the book, compared with just 1.83 per cent for its UK operation. The group's core capital ratio remained largely unchanged at 10.1 per cent, but that capital cushion could yet suffer should there be significant further credit quality deterioration.
