- Bank to start buyback plan on Tuesday
- Cash dividend per share in 2023 up 50% on 2022
- Bank to incorporate two new board members
- Shares rises by more than 2%
MADRID, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Spain's Santander announced a new share buyback programme of 1.46 billion euros ($1.57 billion) on Monday and said it would raise its 2023 dividend per share by some 50%.
The euro zone's second-biggest bank by market value said the execution of its buyback would start on Tuesday after having already obtained the necessary regulatory authorization.
Shares in Santander were up 2.17% to 3.7530 euros at 0857 GMT. The stock was down 4.68% for the year at its Feb. 16 close.
Santander said the average purchase price of shares would not exceed 4.76 euros and assuming an average price of 3.95 euros, the maximum number to be acquired would be 369.3 million, equivalent to 2.33% of the Spanish bank's capital.
It also said it will submit a final cash dividend for 2023 of 0.095 euros per share for approval at its annual general meeting, expected to be held on March 22. As a result, the total cash dividend per share for 2023 will be 0.176 euros per share.
The increase in shareholder payouts comes after Santander's net profit hit a record 11.08 billion euros in 2023.
Santander Executive Chair Ana Botin said in a statement the bank expected to achieve a return on tangible equity, a measure of profitability, of 16% in 2024.
With these new payments, Santander's payout ratio (the proportion of earnings distributed to shareholders) rises from 40% to 50% of attributable profit, in line with its new remuneration policy announced in February.
The final cash dividend will be paid on May 2 and shareholder remuneration against its 2023 results will total more than 5.5 billion, Santander said.
Its board also nominated Carlos Barrabes and Antonio Weiss as new independent directors for approval at the AGM, filling vacancies left by Bruce Carnegie-Brown and Ramiro Mato.
($1 = 0.9270 euros)
Reporting by Jesús Aguado; Editing by Inti Landauro and Alexander Smith
Source: Reuters