Concerns: Santander has splashed the cash over the past year with a multi-billion euro spending spree
26 July 2012
Santander UK lent £11.4 billion to small businesses in the first half of 2012 as it strives to become the “bank of choice” for credit-starved firms, the bank said today.
The 18% rise in SME lending came as the bank — which bought Alliance & Leicester and Bradford & Bingley’s savings arm during the financial crisis — scaled back mortgage lending.
Pre-tax profits were up 32% to £725 million. But stripping out the impact of a £731 million provision for PPI mis-selling which hit the bank’s bottom line last year, underlying profits are down as the lender suffers a margin squeeze.
The bank’s Spanish parent saw profits halve to €1.7 billion (£1.3 billion) as it wrote off €2.8 billion on struggling property loans.
