By Jeannette Neumann
MADRID--Banco Santander SA (SAN.MC) sold 1.2 billion shares at
EUR6.18 each in its EUR7.5 billion ($8.89 billion) capital hike,
the Spanish bank said late Thursday.
The EUR6.18 a share represents roughly a 10% discount to the
price the stock closed at on Thursday afternoon before the shares
were suspended by Spain's market regulator. The shares were set to
begin trading again Friday morning on the Madrid stock
exchange.
The capital increase is the latest move by Executive Chairman
Ana Botín to put her stamp on the bank since taking over in
September after the death of her father, and it seeks to address
long-standing concerns by investors and analysts that its capital
cushion had been too thin.
"We welcome the new management team's attempt to make a clean
break with the past," Berenberg Bank analyst Nick Anderson said in
a research note Friday. He pointed to minor changes, such as Ms.
Botín taking part in the analyst conference call Thursday evening
in Madrid to detail the capital hike, and major moves, such as
recent changes to revamp and rejuvenate the board of directors, as
well as the share sale itself, which was coupled with a change in
dividend policy. "But major concerns remain" Mr. Anderson said.
"The strategy is focused on scale and growth," he said, adding
that, "macro risks remain in Brazil and Spain, and capital is still
inadequate."
-Write to Jeannette Neumann at jeannette.neumann@wsj.com
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