Santander closes over 100 UK branches; lens on 3 financial stocks

by Scarlett S. Stock Market Analyst

Spanish banking behemoth Santander Group has announced that it would permanently close more than 100 UK branches owing to changing customer preferences due to pandemic. This would leave the company with a network of 452 branches. The company said it would shut its regional offices and shift its head office to Milton Keynes. The closure of branches will happen by August end.

The company said it decided to shut regional offices after branch usage dropped 50 per cent in 2020. Branch transactions dropped by a third in the two years preceding the pandemic. The closure would be impacting 5,000 employees. The company said it was consulting with trade unions and would find new roles for a significant number of people.

Adam Bishop, the group’s head of branches, said that since branch users have fallen in the last few years, the company decided to consolidate its presence in areas having several branches in proximity.

For FY2020, the company’s underlying profit from UK operations fell by 50 per cent to €530 million. The company had also said the recovery in the fourth quarter was 18.5 per cent compared to the third quarter.

Here are three banking and financial stocks that have over 5 per cent dividend yield.

Draper Esprit Plc (LON: GROW)
Orchard Funding Group Plc (LON: ORCH)

Axiom European Financial Debt Fund (LON: AXI)

Article First published on Kalkine Media