By Jeannette Neumann and Christopher Bjork
MADRID-- Banco Santander SA said it would raise up to EUR7.5
billion ($8.88 billion) in capital, a bid to address long-running
concerns among investors and analysts that its financial cushion
was weaker than those of its peers.
Santander, the largest bank in the eurozone by market value,
said in a regulatory filing on Thursday that it would raise the
capital through a so-called accelerated book-building process,
which entails selling the stock overnight to institutional
investors.
The Spanish bank is also slashing its dividend in 2015 to EUR0.2
a share down from the EUR0.6 a share it has paid since 2007.
Santander said it would divide the annual payment to shareholders
into three cash dividends and one scrip dividend.
Spain's stock-market regulator suspended trading in the bank's
shares ahead of the announcement.
The shares of major Spanish banks traded lower following the
announcement.
Santander said in its most recent quarterly earnings
presentation that its capital ratio under the latest regulatory
requirements, known as "fully-loaded" Basel III criteria, would be
around 8.5% to 8.6% of risk-weighted assets, below its European
peers and a source of concern for some analysts and investors.
The move is the latest by Ana BotíSHYn, who took over as the
bank's executive chairman in September after the death of her
father, longtime chairman Emilio BotíSHYn.
Ms. BotíSHYn replaced Chief Executive Javier Marín in November,
appointing in his place José Antonio A lvarez, who had previously
served as chief financial officer.
Write to Jeannette Neumann at jeannette.neumann@wsj.com
Access Investor Kit for Banco Santander SA
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=ES0113900J37
Access Investor Kit for Banco Santander SA
Visit
http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US05964H1059
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires