Banco Santander to raise 7.19 bn euro through rights issue

LONDON: Spain's banking major Banco Santander SA on Monday said it will raise 7.19 billion euro through issue of shares on rights basis.

The bank said in a statement that it will raise 7.19 billion euro through issue 1.59 billion shares on rights basis at a price of 4.5 euro per share.

The fully underwritten issue would help in increasing the bank's share capital by a nominal amount of 799.4 million euro.

"The purpose of the share capital increase is to improve Banco Santander's core capital ratio," the statement added.

Santander would offer one new share for every four in circulation. The subscription period shall have a duration of 15 calendar days and would commence once the relevant prospectus has been registered with the Spanish Securities Market Commission.

In September, Banco Santander SA took over the retail deposits and branch network of Bradford & Bingley for 612 million pounds following announcement of the British government to nationalise B&B, which had suffered huge credit-related losses.

Banco Santader had posted a 4.35 per cent growth in third quarter consolidated profit of 2,205 million euro compared to the same period last year, which underlined its capacity to generate earnings in a very complex environment of global economic slowdown.