MADRID--Banco Santander SA (SAN) said fourth-quarter net profit tumbled from a year earlier as the bank set aside millions to cover claims for the mis-selling of payment protection insurance in the lender's U.K. unit.

Santander posted net profit of EUR25 million ($27.12 million) in the fourth quarter, a dive from the EUR1.46 billion the bank reported a year earlier. Analysts had anticipated net profit of EUR1.29 billion, according to a poll by data provider FactSet.

Santander said it had set aside EUR600 million to address potential claims by clients who were missold payment protection insurance. The net profit was also hit by a EUR683 million charge the bank said was used to cover the declining value of software and some other assets. Without the charges, the bank said it would have reported a fourth-quarter net profit roughly flat compared with the previous year.

("Santander Profit Up Slightly," at 0611 GMT and an update at 0704 GMT, misstated net profit in the first two paragraphs.)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 27, 2016 03:17 ET (08:17 GMT)

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