Santander confirms €7.5bn capital increase

After the Spanish market regulator CNMV suspended trading in shares of Banco Santander on Thursday, the bank confirmed that it will be holding an extraordinary board meeting to approve a capital increase.

Santander said that it plans on issuing stocks worth up to €7.5bn (£5.9bn) equivalent to a 9.9% share in the bank.

The bank also stated that the board planned to “reorient the policy on dividends” in order to distribute three cash payouts and one stock dividend during 2015 that it estimated would be each separately be equivalent to €0.05.

At the time of the suspension in trading, 12:47 London time, Santander was gaining 3.3% to 6.856 euros.