Santander Bancorp Declares Common Shares Dividend for the First Quarter

Santander Bancorp Declares Common Shares Dividend for the First
Quarter 


SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, March 16  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Board of
Directors of Santander BanCorp (NYSE: SBP; LATIBEX: XSBP), declared a cash
dividend amounting to $0.16 per common share. The dividend shall be payable on
April 1, 2005 to shareholders of record as of March 15, 2005.

Cash dividends on common shares are eligible for direct reinvestment under the
Company's Dividend Reinvestment and Cash Purchase Plan. For additional
information on how to participate in Santander BanCorp's Dividend Reinvestment
and Cash Purchase Plan, shareholders should contact our transfer agent and
registrar, Mellon Investor Services LLC, at [phone].

Santander BanCorp is a publicly held financial holding company that is traded
on the New York Stock Exchange and on Latibex (Madrid Stock Exchange). It has
three wholly owned subsidiaries, Banco Santander Puerto Rico, Santander
Securities Corporation and Santander Insurance Agency. Banco Santander Puerto
Rico has been operating in Puerto Rico for nearly three decades. It offers a
full array of services through 65 branches in the areas of commercial, mortgage
and consumer banking, supported by a team of 1,600 employees. Santander
Securities offers securities brokerage services and provides portfolio
management services through its wholly owned subsidiary Santander Asset
Management Corporation.  Santander Insurance Agency offers life, health and
disability coverage as a corporate agent and also operates as a general agent.
For more information, visit the Company's website at http:///
http://www.santandernet.com/ .

Santander BanCorp is an 89% subsidiary of Banco Santander Central Hispano, S.A
(Santander). Santander (SAN.MC, STD.N) ranks among the top 10 banks in the
world and is the top bank in the Euro zone by market capitalization. Founded in
1857, it has 60 million clients, 9,970 offices and presence in more than 40
countries. It is the leading Financial Group in Spain and Latin America and
develops an important business activity in Europe, where it has reached an
outstanding presence in the United Kingdom through Abbey Bank. It is also the
owner of the third financial group in Portugal as well as Santander Consumer
Finance, a leading consumer financing unit with presence in Germany, Italy and
other 9 European countries.

Santander is the leading banking franchise in Latin America, where it maintains
business volumes exceeding $122 billion (loans, deposits and on and off --
balance sheet funds under management), has more than 4.000 offices and presence
in 10 countries. In 2004, Santander reached a net profit of $1,812 million in
Latin America, 9% more than the previous year, with a net attributable of
US$1,6 billion. 

DATASOURCE: Santander BanCorp



CONTACT:  Maria Calero, [phone], or Evelyn Vega, [phone],

both of Santander BanCorp



Web site:  http://www.santandernet.com/ 

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