HispanicBusiness

Spain's largest bank, Santander, saw its net profit plunge by 66 per cent to 1.8 billion euros (2.4 billion dollars) in the first nine months of this year, the bank said Thursday.

Santander attributed the losses mainly to having to set aside provisions for property losses, which is required of all Spanish banks. Without the provisions, Santander profit would have increased by 3 per cent, the bank told the stock market watchdog CNMV.

The ratings agency Moody's meanwhile maintained the credit ratings of Spanish banks - with the exception of Liberbank, whose merger plans with Ibercaja Banco collapsed.

Liberbank's rating was dropped from Ba 2 to Ba3. Both ratings correspond to junk levels.

The eurozone has pledged a loan expected to amount to about 40 billion euros for Spain's ailing banks, which suffered heavily from the collapse of the country's property sector. Santander is not among the banks expected to need aid.