“Spanish bank Santander, the biggest in the eurozone by market value, said its net profit plunged in 2012 as it wrote off nearly 19 billion euros ($26 billion) on bad loans and property assets in Spain.
The charges slashed net profit last year by nearly 60 percent but left Santander’s balance sheet looking more secure.
The group said it made 12.7 billion euros in provisions for non-performing loans in Spain and another 6.1 billion euros for Spanish real estate exposure — 18.8 billion euros in total.
A property market collapse in 2008 left Spain’s banks awash with bad loans and destroyed millions of jobs….”
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