Santander's profits surge

Spain's largest banks have shrugged off a slowdown in the domestic housing market, with Santander, Spain's largest bank, on Thursday reporting a 39 per cent profit rise as the latest evidence. The group's €4.46bn ($6.1bn) of net profits means Spain's top five financial groups – Santander, BBVA and Banco Popular, and two savings banks, La Caixa and Caja Madrid – have between them made a net profit of almost €11bn in the first half of the year, up 25 per cent from a year ago.