Banco Santander, S.A. (NYSE:SAN) Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

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In terms of the Spain, okay? In Spain, the deposits, I mean continued to be stable, okay, I at around, we have around €299 billion, okay? We have excess liquidity in Santander Spain, LTVs around 78% as is the case for the whole Spanish system that is around 80%. Quarterly the claim is most linked to CIB deposits, flat in retail in the quarter despite the early repayments of mortgages, okay. 60% compared to the same period of 2022 and increased volume of deposits moving off-balance sheet products. Also, what we see between the first half of ’23 versus the first half of ‘22 is plus 0.9% okay? So we have a different change of the mix with time deposits going up at around 61% up year-on-year, while demand deposits are going down around 5% on the back of the higher rates, driven by the growth of CIB, which allows us to maintain also – and maintain a stable net liquidity position, okay?

In terms of – what I was saying NII, we don’t expect to peak yet. I mean we have still revisions and I will have horses playing in detail exactly how we’ll see an eye evolution in the Spain.

Jose Garcia-Cantera: Good morning, Alvaro. Let me talk about all the Corporate Center, because Santander SA more than and Spain because this is going to give you a better view of our Euro sensitivity to rates in Spain. So we have assets of €330 billion, 60% floating 40% fixed. This fixed includes the ALCO, which is €27 billion that we’ve been buying recently with an average duration of six years on an interest rate of over 3%. We also have intra-group transactions, et cetera, money markets that are fixed, but these are very short term. So they will reprice as short term ULIBOR actually goes up. Of the floating €200 billion, €65 billion. will reprice or reprices with 12-month ULIBOR. We expect the – if we use today’s ULIBOR, compared with the average of the first half, so let’s assume that the ULIBOR remains flat in the first half of next year, we have at least 50 basis points pick up in the repricing of this part of the portfolio next year.

And then we have 60 – sorry, €30 billion with reprices with a six months €40 billion with a three months and €65 billion with one month. So, we would still expect significant repricing upwards in the first half of next year, as interest rates in Europe may go up once or twice, but as they stabilize, we will still have significant repricing of a big chunk of the portfolio in the first half of next year. So obviously, the asset yields are expected still to expand well into 2024. Obviously, margins will depend on the cost of deposits but as Hector said, we are not seeing any pressures today to increase their remuneration of retail deposits. We are already paying almost ULIBOR for CIB deposits, institutional deposits, but we don’t see any pressures on the retail side of deposits, which means that probably the peak in net interest margins will not happen until well into 2024 in the Eurozone.

Begona Morenes : Thank you, Alvaros for the questions and Jose and Hector for the answers. Can we have the next question?

Operator: The next question is from Francisco Riquel from Alantra. Please go ahead.

Francisco Riquel: Wanted to ask about NII in the UK and in the U.S., if you can please update your guidance in the UK I see lending is week following a local mortgage market is declining, asset spreads are low, the deposit betas are still relatively low. How do you see all these dynamics from going forward and the NII? And also in the US, you are gaining market share, but are you gaining new clients or do you paying out for deposits. How do you see the beta compared to the local peers and – in absolute terms going forward and then NII there in the US? Thank you.

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