Sovereign Bank N.A. this morning announced a 38.3 percent increase in net income to $438.1 million in 2012, compared with $316.9 million in 2011.
Sovereign also reported net income of $69.7 million for the final quarter of 2012, which the bank said represented its third year of profitability.
"As we close 2012, we reflect on the many milestones the bank has achieved this year, beginning with our conversion to a national charter last January," Jorge Moran, Sovereign Bank president and CEO, said in a statement. "This change enabled the bank to expand its retail and commercial capabilities to better meet the needs of clients. The new charter has enabled Sovereign to expand its wholesale banking transactions. We continued investing strongly in the franchise and showed double-digit growth in profits. We also grew our staff, with 340 new team members, making approximately 8,900 Sovereign-Santander employees across the footprint."
Lending to commercial and industrial businesses grew by 23 percent during 2012 compared to 2011. Net interest income was stable, at $1.8 billion, and fees and other income grew by 14.6 percent to $611.5 million for the year when compared to 2011.
Sovereign Bank said it had a strong year in loan production in the areas of residential mortgages, small business lending and corporate banking. Total loan production for 2012 was $20.5 billion, a 28.3 percent increase over loan production during 2011.
Additionally, residential mortgage production was up 37 percent in 2012 when compared with 2011.
Sovereign is one of 13 banks and mortgage servicers nationwide that reached a settlement agreement with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve Board related to foreclosure practices in 2009 and 2010. Sovereign’s pro rata share of the settlement payment and other assistance of $16 million was recorded in its 2012 results. The settlement is expected to bring an end to the primary work and costs associated with the independent foreclosure review process that began in 2011.
Total assets were $83.1 billion as of Dec. 31, 2012, a 6.4 percent increase from Dec. 31, 2011. Total deposits were $51.1 billion at Dec. 31, 2012, a 6.3 percent increase over the same period a year earlier.
Sovereign Bank is one of the 25 largest banks in the United States, based mainly in Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.
Sovereign is owned by Santander Holdings USA, a subsidiary of Banco Santander S.A., based in Spain.
