Brazil contributed 15% of Santander’s earnings in 2025
The election was a key catalyst for Santander, according to The Wall Street Journal, because Brazil is the Spanish bank’s second-largest market. Brazil contributed 15% of Santander’s earnings in 2025, with a pretax profit of 3.22 billion euros ($3.61 billion).
Santander operates as one of Brazil’s largest private lenders. The bank is exposed to local consumer credit and domestic interest rates, leaving its bottom line sensitive to shifts in the country’s political and economic leadership.
Investors widely expected a Flávio Bolsonaro victory and viewed it as the more market-friendly outcome because of his promises of fiscal consolidation, privatization and pro-business reforms. The first round of the election earlier in the month had given Bolsonaro a clear lead ahead of Sunday’s runoff vote, making Lula’s victory a surprise to investors.
The Wall Street Journal’s market-data snapshot identified Banco Santander by ticker SAN and recorded a 4.60% decrease after President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s surprise victory over right-wing contender Flávio Bolsonaro in Sunday’s presidential election. Separately, Santander shares were down 5.3% at 10.90 euros during early European trading Monday.
The share decline was not isolated. Currency futures and exchange-traded funds tracking Brazilian stocks also fell early Monday.