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Image source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Banco Santander\u00a0(LSE:BNC<\/a>) shares have been on fire in recent times. In fact, anyone who ploughed \u00a37,500 into the Spanish bank just three years ago would now have roughly \u00a325,500 before dividends.<\/p>\n That\u2019s obviously a cracking result for shareholders. What has sent Santander flying? And might there still be room left in the tank for more tasty gains? <\/p>\n Should you buy Banco Santander shares today?<\/p>\n Before you decide, please take a moment to review this report first. Despite ongoing uncertainties from Trump’s tariffs to global conflicts, Mark Rogers and his team believe many UK shares still trade at substantial discounts, offering savvy investors plenty of potential opportunities to learn about.<\/p>\n That’s why this could be an ideal time to secure this valuable research \u2013 Mark’s analysts have scoured the markets to reveal 5 of his favourite long-term ‘Buys’. Please, don’t make any big decisions before seeing them.<\/p>\n Three key reasons <\/p>\n Looking back, this bumper return is the result of higher interest rates, aggressive cost-cutting, and massive capital returns to shareholders.<\/p>\n Higher rates mean Santander has benefited from wider margins \u2014 charging more for loans while keeping deposit costs relatively low.\u00a0In 2025, net profit<\/a> rose 12% to \u20ac14.1bn (16% in constant euros), marking the bank\u2019s fourth consecutive year of record results.\u00a0<\/p>\n In the past three years, Santander has reduced its cost-to-income ratio from 45.8% to 41.2%. This shows the bank is becoming more leaner and efficient, particularly through using artificial intelligence (AI). <\/p>\n By 2028, the bank expects to generate more than \u20ac1 billion of business value annually (cost savings plus revenues) from data and AI initiatives, contributing around 1 percentage point of the group\u2019s cost-to-income improvement.
Santander 2026 Investor Day<\/p>\n