Santander appoints its Chief Executive Officer in Portugal as its new Regional Director for Europe

Madrid, June 15 (European press) –

Banco Santander has agreed to appoint Pedro Castro e Almeida, the current CEO of its Portuguese subsidiary, as its new regional head for Europe, the entity reported Thursday.

Castro e Almeida will replace Antonio Simoes, who will leave the entity to become CEO of Legal & General Group, an asset management and insurance company based in the UK.

The appointment will be effective from September 1, subject to the relevant consents, and until that date Simões will retain his current responsibilities for ensuring an orderly transition.

In his new role, Castro y Almeida will be responsible for Santander’s business in Europe (banks in Spain, UK, Poland and Portugal) and lead the transformation in the region, reporting to Group CEO Hector Gresi. .

Castro e Almeida will retain his current position as CEO of Santander Portugal. The Bank’s CEOs in Spain, UK and Poland will report directly to you.

The bank’s new regional head in Europe joined Santander Portugal in 1993, where he has been CEO for the past five years.

“During this period, the bank undertook a major transformation, simplifying and automating operational tasks, and becoming the most efficient and profitable entity in the country,” the entity explained.

Before Castro y Almeida became CEO of the Portuguese Bank Santander, he was a director of the bank for more than 10 years and worked in different areas of the bank.

For his part, Antonio Simoes joined Santander in 2020 and, under his leadership, the bank has made progress in integrating its activities in Europe and in building One Santander.

“All of this has led to an increase in normal profits in Europe from 1,138 million euros in 2020 to 3,810 million in 2022, a trend that continued in the first quarter of 2023, with profits increasing by 19% year-on-year,” highlights Kayan.

Likewise, the bank confirms that the region’s profitability (RoTE, return on tangible capital) has moved from 3% in 2020 to 13% in the first quarter of 2023, due to the growth of the franchise, whose customer base has increased by one million in the past year.

Lott: CASTRO E ALMEIDA IS THE “PERFECT PERSON TO LEAD EUROPE”

Banco Santander’s president, Ana Botín, appreciated Castro e Almeida’s appointment and thanked Simões for his work.

said Botín, who added that Castro y Almeida is “the perfect person to lead Europe and keep up the good work.” Simões has done it with One Santander.

For his part, Castro y Almeida was “very excited” about the opportunity to lead Banco Santander’s European business. “In recent years, we have made great progress building One Santander in the region and we have an exceptional team. We will continue to work towards the goals the group set for itself at its last investor day,” he added.