Banco Santander Profit Falls

Banco Santander STD, Spain's biggest bank, said its second-quarter profit dipped 8% to $2.9 billion from over $3 billion a year earlier, missing consensus estimates. The bank said weakness in its home market of Spain was offset by growth in Brazil. Profit at the bank's Brazilian unit is expected to outpace Spanish profits for the first time in 2010. Banco Santander also does business in Chile, Germany, Mexico and the U.S. among other markets. Santander is in the final stages of talks to buy about 300 branches in the U.K. from Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc RBS, according to Bloomberg News. A resolution on the deal, which was announced earlier this year, is expected next month. Santander was among the banks that passed the European stress test on the region's financial services firms. The bank's U.S. unit, Sovereign Bancorp SOV, turned a profit in the quarter, reversing a year-earlier loss.