London, 25 February 2026.
Banco Santander today presents its strategic plan for 2026–2028 at its Investor Day in London, marking the next phase of value creation for the bank.

The plan builds on the successful delivery of the 2023–2025 strategic cycle and sets a roadmap for structurally higher returns over the coming years. Ana Botín (executive chair), Héctor Grisi (CEO) and Jose García Cantera (CFO) will outline the group’s strategy and key financial and operational targets, which include the following^[2]:

• By 2028, the bank aims to reach more than 210 million customers, up from 180 million at the end of 2025, further strengthening its position as the leading bank by customers across Europe and the Americas.
• By growing revenue mid-single digit and reducing total costs^[3] every year (resulting in an efficiency ratio of c.36% by 2028), the bank expects to achieve a profit of more than €20 billion by 2028.
• This would result in a return on tangible equity (RoTE) above 20% in 2028, supported by double-digit earnings per share growth every year in 2026-2028.
• The bank will increase cash dividend payout to c.35% of group profit from 2027 results onwards, with c.15% allocated to share buybacks¹, and more than double the cash dividend per share versus 2025.
• Accelerating to high teens annual growth in tangible net asset value plus dividend per share (TNAVps+DPS) by 2028.

The board intends to maintain its shareholder remuneration policy of distributing around 50% of profit through a combination of cash dividends and share buybacks, subject to corporate and regulatory approvals. The bank has already committed to distributing at least €10 billion in share buybacks from 2025–2026 earnings, with €5 billion launched earlier this month and €1.7 billion already executed in 2025. The board also intends to return to shareholders any excess capital above 13% at the end of the plan.

In 2025, Santander delivered a record attributable profit of €14.1 billion in 2025, marking the successful completion of its three-year strategic cycle. Over the 2023-2025 period, earnings per share increased 68%, while tangible net asset value per share plus dividend per share increased by 14% per year on average. Since 2021, including the newly announced €5 billion buyback, Santander will have returned €16.2 billion to shareholders through share buybacks, representing approximately 18% of its outstanding shares. Over the 2023-2025 period, Santander’s share price increased by over 250%.

These results reflect the strength of Santander’s diversified model, the impact of ONE Transformation and the growing contribution of its global businesses, demonstrating the group’s ability to translate scale and simplification into higher returns. This performance provides a strong starting point for the next phase of value creation.

ONE Transformation

A central pillar of the plan is the continued execution of ONE Transformation, which is delivering efficiency gains and operational leverage across the group through the scaling of common technology platforms across the bank’s global businesses. Santander expects to improve its efficiency ratio through further simplification of products and processes, increased collaboration across its global businesses and the scaling of common technology platforms.

Investments in data & AI are a key lever of ONE Transformation, fully embedded in the businesses and focused on hyper-personalized customer journeys, AI-powered frontline productivity and end-to-end process automation. By 2028, the bank expects to generate more than €1 billion of business value annually (cost savings plus revenues) from data and AI initiatives, contributing around 1 percentage point of the group’s cost-to-income improvement.

Santander will continue to leverage its five global businesses (Retail, Openbank, CIB, Wealth and Payments) to optimize returns and enhance customer value.

• In Retail, the focus is on becoming a global digital bank with branches, increasing digital sales and reducing cost-to-serve.
• In Openbank, the global consumer business, is scaling as a connected and efficient digital platform across markets.
• In CIB, capital-light, fee-based activities will continue to grow, while enhancing operational leverage.
• In Wealth, assets under management and insurance penetration will expand, improving profitability.
• In Payments, revenue will continue to grow at a double-digit pace, supported by scale and interconnected platforms, with improving margins.

Capital allocation

Disciplined capital allocation remains central to the strategy, focusing on businesses and markets capable of generating returns above the cost of equity. The bank’s successful M&A strategy in the past 12 months is simplifying the group’s footprint while strengthening the bank’s presence in two critical markets in the UK with TSB and in the US with Webster. 

The bank’s businesses in the UK and US are expected to reach RoTE of c.16% and c.18% respectively by 2028, in line with the most profitable banks in their peer groups, while around 80% of the group’s overall  loan book and c.65% of operating profit before tax will be generated in hard currency markets, enhancing earnings resilience and reducing volatility.

Final dividend

The board of directors of Banco Santander is today announcing its decision to submit a final cash dividend against 2025 profit of 12.5 euro cents per share for approval at the forthcoming annual general meeting (AGM), expected to be held on 27 March 2026. As a result, the total cash dividend per share charged to 2025 results will be 24 euro cents, an increase of over 14% compared to the cash dividend against 2024 results (21 euro cents). The final cash dividend for 2025 will be paid on 5 May 2026.

The total shareholder remuneration against 2025 results will be approximately €7.05 billion (around 50% of the group's attributable profit for 2025), divided approximately equally between cash dividends and share buyback programmes. It represents an equivalent yield of approximately 4.5%^[4]. The Santander share price has increased over 75% in the last 12 months. Earlier this month, the bank started a c.€5 billion share buyback, comprising c.€1.8 billion against the second-half of 2025 results, as well as c.€3.2 billion linked to excess capital from the sale of 49% of Santander Poland.

From 2027 results onwards, the group intends to increase the cash dividend component of shareholder remuneration to around c.35% of group profits (versus 25% today), with c.15% allocated to share buybacks, and aims to more than double the cash dividend per share by 20281 versus 2025.

The recording of the Investor Day and the presentations will be available on Santander corporate website after the event (view).

New board member

The board is also submitting to the shareholders’ meeting the appointment of Deborah Vieitas as a new independent director, subject to regulatory approval. Vieitas will fill the vacancy left by Homaira Akbari, who has informed that she will not stand for re-election and will therefore step down following this year’s shareholders’ meeting.

Deborah Vieitas currently serves as non-executive chair of Banco Santander Brasil and brings extensive executive experience in international banking and financial markets, having held senior leadership positions at international and Brazilian financial institutions. She previously served as CEO of the Brazilian subsidiary of Caixa Geral de Depósitos and held senior roles at global financial institutions including BNP Paribas and Crédit Commercial de France. Her appointment further strengthens the board’s international expertise, financial services experience and geographic diversity.

^[1] The board of directors intends (1)  to apply an ordinary shareholder remuneration policy for 2026 to 2028 results that entails allocating approximately 50% of the Group’s  underlying profit (excluding non-cash, non-capital ratios impact items), split approximately evenly between cash dividends and share buybacks for 2026 results, and (2)  to distribute to shareholders any excess capital at the end of the 2026-2028 period. From 2027 results, the ordinary shareholder remuneration policy is expected to comprise around 35% of Group underlying profit (on the same basis) in cash dividends and around 15% in share buybacks. Execution of the shareholder remuneration policy and of the distribution to shareholders of any excess capital at the end of the 2026-2028 period remains subject to future corporate and regulatory decisions and approvals.

^[2] Projections and targets for Santander Group and its UK and US businesses in this announcement assume completion of the announced TSB and Webster acquisitions, which are pending completion and subject to customary conditions including regulatory and, for Webster, shareholder approvals.

^[3] In constant euros and under a constant perimeter.

^[4] Per Banco Santander's market capitalization on 24 February 2026.