SANTANDER has no interest in buying the Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks from National Australia Bank, the Spanish giant has said.

Steve Pateman, head of UK banking, dismissed speculation the bank will look to grow by a smaller acquisition, after it walked away last year from a deal to buy more than 300 branches from Royal Bank of Scotland.

On a possible bid for the two NAB-owned banks, Mr Pateman said: "The reality is that it is no longer a UK-wide business. It's a regional business."

He said while it may be "slower and harder", the Spanish bank's "primary focus is on organic growth in corporate and in retail" in the UK.

Mr Pateman also confirmed Santander UK's plans for a stock market flotation have been pushed back to 2015. He said: "Our plan has always been to do the IPO when markets are attractive."

It comes as Lloyds Banking Group pushes ahead with its flotation of more than 600 TSB branches after the Co-operative Group backed out of its proposed deal last week.

Santander was unveiling a 22% slump in profits in the first three months of the year to £282 million.

The bank shrunk its loan book by £2.3 billion during the quarter as its net mortgage lending fell by £2.5bn – significantly more than the £1bn it has so far borrowed from the Funding for Lending Scheme.

Santander said followed its decision to do less interest-only and higher loan to value mortgage lending, and to grow its business banking.