Abbey has announced a 25 per cent rise in profits to £372 million during the first three months of the year, defying the economic downturn . The bank is owned by Spanish bank Santander, the world’s sixth largest bank, which maintained profits of €2 billion, 5 per cent down on last year. The profits were even more impressive considering Santander was faced with a €2.2 billion charge for impaired loans during the same period, whilst Abbey’s loan impairment charges doubled. Indeed, the charge at Abbey doubled from £90 million to £189 million.
Santander granted £5 billion of home loans in the first quarter as it seeks to increase its share of the mortgage market. The number of properties in possession rose sharply, from 79 to 969, though that figure remains below the industry average at 0.07 per cent of the overall portfolio. Abbey reported net lending of £800 million in the first quarter, and remains well within its limits, given that it isn’t using its Alliance and Leicester arm in the mortgage market at all at present. Abbey received net deposit inflows of £800 million, and its savings arm was boosted by the profits of Bradford and Bingley and Alliance and Leicester.






