1210 GMT - Santander is among the most mentioned companies across news items over the past five hours, according to Factiva data, after the Spanish lender said it would launch a new share buyback program for 1.46 billion euros ($1.57 billion) and said it would increase its 2023 dividend per share by 50%. The eurozone's second-biggest bank by market value is the latest to reward shareholders after UniCredit, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, Societe Generale, BBVA and Banco de Sabadell outlined plans to boost cash returns to shareholders in recent weeks. This comes after Santander's annual net profit hit a record high in 2023 and the bank said it expected higher profitability in 2024, as measured by its return on tangible equity ratio. "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%," Executive Chair Ana Botin said. European banks could return EUR38 billion through buybacks by the end of the year, coming on top of an expected EUR76 billion in dividends for 2024, Bank of America analysts estimated in a recent research note. Dow Jones & Co. owns Factiva. (helena.smolak@wsj.com)


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

02-19-24 0725ET