Santander to Issue 1.26 Billion Shares in Capital Increase

By Jeannette Neumann

MADRID--Banco Santander SA (SAN, SAN.MC) said it will sell 1.26 billion shares overnight as part of a EUR7.5 billion ($8.88 billion) capital increase the bank announced on Thursday, in a bid to address concerns among investors and analysts that its financial cushion is thinner than those of other big European banks.

The capital increase will support "organic" growth in its main markets in Europe and Latin America, Santander said in a regulatory filing after the Madrid market closed on Thursday.

The increase will put Santander's capital level--under international regulations known as "fully loaded" Basel III criteria--at around 10% of risk-weighted assets in 2015, the bank said.

Santander chose Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and UBS AG to oversee the capital increase.

Santander said in a presentation to investors and analysts that it expects 2014 net profit of around EUR5.8 billion. Also, the bank said it is likely to report a 3% increase in costs and a 6% rise in revenue in 2014 compared with a year earlier. Santander said it expects 2014 provisions to fall around 10% compared with 2013.

Write to Jeannette Neumann at [e-mail].

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