SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, May 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Board of Directors of Santander BanCorp (NYSE: SBP; LATIBEX: XSBP) declared a cash dividend amounting to $0.10 per common share. The dividend shall be payable on July 1, 2008 to shareholders of record as of June 10, 2008.
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 (800) 851-9677.
Institutional Background
Santander BanCorp is a publicly held financial holding company that is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (SBP) and on Latibex (Madrid Stock Exchange) (XSBP). 91% of the outstanding common stock of Santander BanCorp is owned by Banco Santander, S.A. (Santander). The Corporation has five wholly owned subsidiaries, Banco Santander Puerto Rico, Santander Securities Corporation, Santander Financial Services, Inc., Santander Insurance Agency, Inc. and Island Insurance Corporation. Banco Santander Puerto Rico has been operating in Puerto Rico for nearly three decades. It offers a full array of services through 61 branches in the areas of commercial, mortgage and consumer banking, supported by a team of over 1,100 employees. Santander Securities offers securities brokerage services and provides portfolio management services through its wholly owned subsidiary Santander Asset Management Corporation. Santander Financial Services, Inc. offers consumer finance products through its network of 69 branches throughout the Island. 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://www.santandernet.com/.
Santander (SAN.MC, STD.N) is the largest bank in the euro zone by market capitalization and fifth in the world by profit. Founded in 1857, Santander has EUR 912,915 million in assets and EUR 1,063,892 million in managed funds, 65 million customers, 11,178 branches and a presence in 40 countries. It is the largest financial group in Spain and Latin America, and is the sixth largest bank in the United Kingdom, through its Abbey subsidiary, and is the third largest banking group in Portugal. Through Santander Consumer Finance, it also operates a leading in 12 European countries (Germany, Italy and Spain, among others) and the United States. In 2007, Santander registered euro 9,060 million in net attributable profits, an increase of 19% from the previous year.
In Latin America, Santander manages over US$300 billion in business volumes (loans, deposits, mutual funds and managed funds) through 4,498 offices. In 2007, Santander reported $3,648 million in net attributable income in Latin America, 27% higher than the prior year.
This news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections about the industry in which the Company operates, its beliefs and its management's assumptions. Words such as "expects," "anticipates," "targets," "goals," "projects," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates" and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed or forecast in such forward-looking statements. Except as otherwise required under federal securities laws and the rules and regulations of the SEC, the Company does not have any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions or otherwise.
