Banco Santander SA (SAN)

[Huggy Bear]

I received my shares in lieu of cash dividend in my account last week. A bit disappointed that the ratio is no longer 1 for every 36 but not complaining. "They" say Spain is emerging from recession, but I do not consider a single positive quarter GDP wise as a tell all sign, Spain still has unemployment of around 20%. Nevertheless the financial situation with the bank is dramatically improving as losses from non performing and defaulted real estate loans in the Euro sector are being written off the books aggressively and the 50% diversification into Latin America still performing well across the board with 7-9% growth there. The investment into Poland in the heyday of Euro unrest was brilliant IMO and will lend to the EU portfolio overall stability.

I would not be surprised at all to see Santander approach a FMV of around 14-16/sh. within the next 12-18 months. It is a long term hold for me, how long is undetermined as it all depends on how it looks past FMV - The actions of management in the times of trouble may pay off way past the recovery in the EU.