SANTANDER increased net lending to small companies in Scotland by 65% to £175 million during 2012 as the UK arm of the Spanish bank saw pre-tax profit remain stable at £1.2 billion.
Santander took a £55m provision for costs arising from its decision to pull out of a £1.7bn deal to buy 318 branches from Royal Bank of Scotland in September.
But a squeeze on margins from low interest rates and rising bad debts were offset by cost-cutting and the impact of a debt buy-back.
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