Banco Santander Chile Announces Third Quarter 2009 Earnings

SANTIAGO, Chile, October 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Banco Santander Chile (NYSE: SAN; SSE: Bsantander) announced today its unaudited results for the third quarter of 2009. These results are reported on a consolidated basis in accordance with Chilean GAAP (1)(2) in nominal Chilean pesos.

In 3Q09, net income attributable to shareholders totaled Ch$109,901 million (Ch$0.58 per share and US$1.11/ADR). These results represent an increase of 2.3% compared to 2Q09 (from now on QoQ) and a decrease of 16.9% compared to restated 3Q08 figures (from now on YoY). Compared to historical figures (not adjusted for the new accounting standards(3)), net income attributable to shareholders increased 13.9% YoY in 3Q09.

With these results, the Bank's ROAE in the quarter reached 28.8%. The Bank currently has the highest ROE among the banks operating in Chile. This strong profitability was achieved despite having one of the highest levels of capitalization in the Chilean financial system. As of September 30, 2009, the BIS ratio reached 15.2% and a Tier I ratio of 11.2%.

In 3Q09, total loans increased 1.4% QoQ. The pickup in economic growth has led to a rebound in loan volumes, especially in higher yielding retail banking activities. The Bank launched in the quarter its Reactivate! (Reactivate) program with the pre-approval of approximately US$ 7 billion in loans for clients. As a result, consumer and residential mortgage loans increased 1.6% QoQ and lending to SMES rose 2.2% in the same period.

In 3Q09, the Bank's net provision expense decreased 17.6% QoQ and increased 9.1% YoY. On a QoQ basis, asset quality indicators began to show signs of improvements, especially among individuals. Non-performing loans (NPLs) decreased 7.7% QoQ. The coverage of NPLs rose from 75.7% in 2Q09 to 88.2% in 3Q09. The coverage of consumer NPLs reached 252.6% as of September 2009.

In 3Q09, net interest income was down 4.1% QoQ and 13.7% YoY. The Bank's net interest margin reached 5.7% in the quarter compared to 6.0% in 2Q09 and 6.9% in 3Q08. The lower margin was mainly due to the lower spread earned over the non-interest bearing deposits as a result of the lower interest rate environment and the higher deflation in the period. The Bank maintains long-term assets (mainly medium and long-term financial investments) that are denominated in Unidades de Fomento (UFs), an inflation indexed unit, which are partially funded with nominal or non-interest bearing peso short-term deposits. Deflation was -0.47% in 3Q09 compared to -0.13% in 2Q09 and +3.63% in 3Q08. The negative effects of deflation were partially offset by the Bank's focus on spreads and lower provision expense. Net interest income net of provisions was up 5.8% QoQ.

Net fee income increased 2.6% QoQ and 6.0% YoY in 3Q09. Solid fee growth from credit card and asset management fees were among the main drivers of fee income growth. Fees from credit, debit and ATM cards increased 14.7% QoQ and 32.7% YoY. The rise in fees from this business reflects the launch of three new successful credit card products in 2009. Fees from asset management increased 10.8% QoQ and 8.9% YoY. Total assets under management reached Ch$3,478,763 million (US$6.3 billion) and increased 4.1% QoQ and 37.3% YoY. This reflects the greater flows of money to both money market and stock funds as investor sentiment improves. The Bank's commercial teams have also proactively funneled customer deposits to mutual funds, which is a more profitable product for the Bank. This was partially offset by the negative impact of regulatory changes over fees from checking accounts and lines of credit.

The Bank continued to control costs in the quarter and the efficiency ratio reached 32.6%. Operating expenses decreased 1.3% QoQ and 7.2% YoY in 3Q09. The evolution of operating efficiency was due to general cost control and the increase in usage of alternative channels, especially internet.

In summary, gross income, net of provisions and costs increased 10.4% QoQ in 2Q09, reflecting the high quality of results in the quarter. The growth of fee income, the lower provision expense due to the improvement in asset quality and cost savings was partially offset by the negative effects of deflation on net interest margins. Compared to 3Q08, the 11.9% YoY decline in net operating income was mainly due to the differences in inflation rates between the two quarters that negatively impacted net interest margins.

    
                                                                QoQ     
    (Ch$ million)                                 3Q09          Chg.    
    Net interest income                          217,253       -4.1%
    Fee income                                    64,756        2.6%
    Financial transactions                        31,510        6.3%
    Provision expense                            (79,122)     -17.6%
    Operating expenses                          (102,775)      -1.3%
    Gross income, net of provisions and costs    131,622       10.4%
    Other operating and non-operating                              
     income, net*                                (21,721)      82.8%
    Net income attributable to                                           
     shareholders                                109,901        2.3%

* Includes Other operating income, Other operating expenses, income attributable to investments in other companies, income tax and net of minority interest

In the nine-month period ended September 30, 2009 (9M09), net income attributable to shareholders totaled Ch$293,944 million (Ch$1.56/share and US$2.95/ADR). Net income attributable to shareholders decreased 8.5% YoY due to: (i) the 4.4% decrease in net interest income as a consequence of the negative effects of deflation on margins, (ii) the 30.2% rise in provision expense and (iii) the higher effective tax rate. This was partially offset by the 4.7% increase in fee income, the 106.9% rise in financial transactions and other operating income, net and the 3.7% fall in operating expenses. Net income attributable to shareholders increased 17.3% in 9M09 compared to non-restated 9M08 net income. In 9M09, the Bank's ROAE reached 25.9%, the highest in the Chilean banking system, and the efficiency ratio reached 32.8%, the most efficient bank in Chile.

Institutional Background

As per the latest public records published by the Superintendency of Banks of Chile for September 2009, Banco Santander Chile was the largest bank in terms of loans and deposits. The Bank has the highest credit ratings among all Latin American companies, with an A+ rating from Standard and Poor's, A+ by Fitch and A1 by Moody's, which are the same ratings assigned to the Republic of Chile. The stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: SAN) and the Santiago Stock Exchange (SSE: Bsantander). The Bank's main shareholder is Santander, which controls 76.91% of Banco Santander Chile.

Banco Santander (SAN.MC, STD.N) is a retail and commercial bank, based in Spain. At the end of 2008, Santander was the largest bank in the euro zone by market capitalization and third in the world by profit. Founded in 1857, Santander had EUR 1,271 billion in managed funds at the end of 2008. Following the acquisition of Sovereign Bancorp. of the U.S. in January 2009, Santander has 90 million customers, more than 14,000 branches -- more than any other international bank -- and over 170,000 employees. It is the largest financial group in Spain and Latin America, with leading positions in the United Kingdom and Portugal and a broad presence in Europe through its Santander Consumer Finance arm. In the first half of 2009, Santander registered EUR 4,519 million in net attributable profit.

For more information, see www.santander.com.

(1) Safe harbor statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: All forward-looking statements made by Banco Santander Chile involve material risks and uncertainties and are subject to change based on various important factors which may be beyond the Bank's control. Accordingly, the Bank's future performance and financial results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in any such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to, those described in the Bank's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Bank does not undertake to publicly update or revise the forward-looking statements even if experience or future changes make it clear that the projected results expressed or implied therein will not be realized.

(2) In 2009, banks in Chile adopted accounting standards in line with international standards (IFRS) and historical figures in the rest of this report have been re-stated to make them comparable. All figures and variation presented below are based on 3Q08 and 9M08 figures that have been restated in line with new accounting standards adopted in 2009.

(3) In 2009, banks in Chile adopted new accounting standards in line with international standards (IFRS) and historical figures in the rest of this report have been re-stated to make them comparable. The main difference compared to previous accounting standards was the elimination of price level restatement, a non-cash item. All figures and variation presented below are based on 3Q08 and 9M08 figures that have been restated in line with new accounting standards adopted in 2009.