Banco Santander Chile's Board Announces its Annual Dividend Proposal to Shareholders

SANTIAGO, Chile, March 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Banco Santander Chile's (NYSE: SAN) Board yesterday decided to summon an Annual Ordinary Shareholder Meeting on April 27, 2010 at the Bank's headquarters. Among other issues, the Board will propose to shareholders the payment of an annual dividend of Ch$1.37308147 per share. If approved, this dividend will represent a 21.3% increase compared to the dividend paid in 2009.

Institutional Background

As per the latest public records published by the Superintendency of Banks of Chile for December 2009, Banco Santander Chile was the largest bank in terms of loans and second in deposits. The Bank has the highest credit ratings among all Latin American companies, with an A+ rating from Standard and Poor's, A+ by Fitch and A1 by Moody's, which are the same ratings assigned to the Republic of Chile. The stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: SAN) and the Santiago Stock Exchange (SSE: Bsantander). The Bank's main shareholder is Santander, which controls 76.91% of Banco Santander Chile.  

For more information see www.santander.cl

Banco Santander (SAN.MC, STD.N) is a retail and commercial bank based in Spain. Santander has more than 90 million customers, 13,660 branches -- more than any other international bank -- and 169,460 employees around the world. It is the largest financial group in Spain and Latin America, with leading positions in the United Kingdom and Portugal and a broad presence in Europe through its Santander Consumer Finance arm. In 2009, Santander registered EUR 8,943 million in net attributable profit. Banco Santander's eligible capital at the close of the third quarter came to EUR 79,704 million, with a surplus of EUR 34,769 million above the required regulatory minimum. With this capital base, the BIS ratio, using Basel II criteria, comes to 14.2%, Tier I to 10.1% and core capital 8.6%. These ratios place Santander among the most solvent banks in the world.

More information at  www.santander.com

Website: www.santander.cl

    
    
    CONTACT INFORMATION
    Robert Moreno
    Manager, Investor Relations Department
    Banco Santander Chile
    Bandera 140 Piso 19
    Santiago, Chile
    Tel: (562) 320-8284
    Fax: (562) 671-6554
    Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Banco Santander Chile