Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC) executives highlighted improving macroeconomic conditions in Chile, continued momentum in profitability and fees, and updated guidance for 2026 during the bank’s fourth-quarter 2025 earnings call held Feb. 5, 2026. Chief Financial Officer Patricia Pérez was joined by Head of Strategy and Investor Relations Cristián Vicuña and economist Lorena Palomeque.
Macro backdrop: easing inflation, rate cuts, and policy shifts in focus
Palomeque said Chile’s macroeconomic environment improved gradually through 2025 after “several years of significant adjustments.” Inflation continued trending down and converging toward targets, allowing monetary policy to move away from a restrictive stance and making financial conditions “progressively more supportive.”
Looking ahead, Palomeque said a new administration will assume office in March 2026 and has communicated an agenda that could provide additional stimulus, including an emphasis on large-scale investment projects and permitting simplification. She added that President-elect Kast has indicated an initial target to reduce Chile’s corporate tax rate from 27% to 23%, though she said changes would likely be phased in and depend on congressional approval.
On activity, Palomeque said Chile’s economy was estimated to have grown 2.3% in 2025, driven by a recovery in domestic demand and a strong increase in investment tied to mining and energy projects, while residential construction remained under pressure. She said CPI inflation closed 2025 at 3.5% and the central bank lowered the monetary policy rate to 4.5% in December 2025. Unemployment ended the year at 8%, averaging 8.5% in 2025, the same as 2024.
For 2026, management’s macro view included inflation marginally below the 3% target and an additional rate cut in the first half to an estimated neutral level of 4.25%. Economic activity is projected to expand between 2.1% and 2.4%.
Strategy: digital bank, Work Cafés, and fee-driven recurrence
Vicuña reiterated the bank’s strategy to create value for stakeholders, anchored in a vision of being “a digital bank with Work Cafés.” He said priorities include attracting and activating new clients, scaling with artificial intelligence and process automation, and sustaining an efficiency ratio in the “mid-30s or better.”
He also emphasized growth in transactional and non-credit fee services, with targets that include double-digit fee growth and strong “recurrence,” defined as fee income over structural operating expenses. The bank continues to target more than 5 million clients by 2026, while maintaining what management described as strong CET1 levels to support growth and dividend capacity, with an objective to deliver ROEs above 20% and a dividend payout ratio of 60% to 70%.
Vicuña said the strategy has shifted the bank’s revenue mix over the past few years, with fee income increasing from 15% to 21% of total revenues and the recurrence ratio reaching best-in-class levels “now above 63%.”
2025 results: net income up 23%, ROAE 23.5%, and stable NIM
For full-year 2025, Pérez said the bank generated net income of CLP 1,053 billion, up 23% year-over-year. That translated into return on average equity of 23.5% and an efficiency ratio of 36%.
- Fee income rose 9% year-over-year, and financial transactions increased 8%.
- Mutual funds grew 7%, and the recurrence ratio reached 63.7% year to date.
- Net interest income (including readjustment income) increased 11% year-over-year, while NIM was stable at 4%.
- CET1 stood at 11%.
Pérez said the bank provisioned a 60% dividend payout for 2025 profits to be paid in April 2026. She also noted the bank began 2026 with a $500 million, five-year 144(a) issuance at a rate of 4.55%.
Management also cited external recognitions received during the year, including awards from Euromoney, LatinFinance and The Banker naming Santander-Chile the best bank in Chile, and Global Finance recognizing it as best bank for SMEs. Pérez added that the bank’s MSCI ESG rating improved from A to AA.
On quarterly profitability trends, Vicuña said the bank has “consistently maintained ROEs above 21%,” including in quarters with lower inflation. He said full-year net interest income rose 10.9%, driven by a lower cost of funding that improved by roughly 100 basis points year-over-year.
Clients, costs, and asset quality: growth in activity and tight expense control
The bank reported serving close to 4.6 million clients, with 58% active and about 2.3 million digital clients accessing platforms monthly. Current accounts grew 9% year-over-year, supporting 5% growth in active clients and 7% growth in total clients. The bank cited a 15% increase in credit card transactions and a 7% increase in mutual fund volumes.
In corporate banking, Vicuña said business current accounts grew 19% over the last 12 months, which the bank attributed to its “simple business account” and integrated payment solutions through Getnet.
On expenses, management said operating expenses rose temporarily earlier in 2025 due to cloud migration costs, but full-year operating expenses increased only 1.6%. In the fourth quarter, core expenses declined 1%, which management attributed to lower administrative costs, reduced data processing expenses, and Chilean peso appreciation. Pérez noted about 25% of administrative expenses are linked to the euro and U.S. dollar, making FX moves a factor in the year-over-year comparison.
On credit quality, management said cost of credit remained above historical averages, and the bank has been increasing loan restructuring, which has raised the impaired ratio, while non-performing loans 90 days past due have stabilized.
Capital remained a key focus under Basel III. The bank said its CET1 ratio of 11% was above its minimum requirement of 9.08% as of December 2025 and reflected about 50 basis points of capital creation versus December 2024, even after a 60% dividend provision and a 2% increase in risk-weighted assets. Management also said the regulator assigned Santander-Chile a Pillar II charge of 13 basis points, down from 25 basis points previously.
2026 guidance: mid-single-digit loan growth, ROE of 22% to 24%
For 2026, management guided to GDP growth in the “low 2%” range, UF variation just below 2.9%, and an average monetary policy rate around 4.3%. The bank expects mid-single-digit loan growth with a stronger rebound in the second half of the year.
Despite slightly lower inflation, management said it expects to sustain NIM around 4%, supported by loan growth and slightly lower rates. Fees and financial transactions are expected to grow mid- to high-single digits. The bank said this outlook does not include any impact from a potential interchange fee reduction, which remains under review by the Interchange Fee Commission.
Management expects efficiency to remain around the mid-30s and cost of credit to improve gradually to around 1.3% for the full year. Based on those assumptions, Santander-Chile guided to 2026 ROE in a range of 22% to 24%.
During Q&A, executives said they do not expect corporate tax reduction effects to be immediate, with Palomeque suggesting more impact in 2027 and later in 2026 rather than in the near term. They also said discussions around credit card limits and interest rate caps may take time to progress through Congress, and management does not expect changes during 2026.
Management provided additional details on a Getnet Chile transaction approved at a recent shareholders’ meeting. The bank said Getnet Payments offered to acquire a minority stake in Getnet Chile to formalize a strategic partnership intended to strengthen competitiveness in payments, while Banco Santander-Chile retains control and the majority of the board. Pérez said the transaction includes an initial payment of CLP 68 billion and a service agreement under which the bank will receive the equivalent of 10% of Getnet’s net operating revenues for seven years, with an automatic three-year extension. She said the P&L impact is “negligible” and estimated the ROE effect at around 20 basis points, adding that guidance already includes the change and that the main accounting impact will be higher minority interest.
Asked about inflation sensitivity and indexed income, the bank said it expects an average exposure to inflation of around CLP 8.5 billion in its base scenario, equating to roughly 15 basis points of sensitivity for each 100 basis points move in inflation. Management also said it expects risk-weighted assets growth around 2% in 2026, consistent with its loan growth expectations and portfolio mix assumptions.
About Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC)
Banco Santander Chile (NYSE:BSAC) is one of the leading financial institutions in Chile and a key component of the global Santander Group. The bank offers a comprehensive range of banking and financial services, including retail and commercial lending, deposit accounts, credit cards, wealth management, insurance products and corporate banking solutions. Headquartered in Santiago, it operates an extensive network of branches, ATMs and digital platforms to serve individual customers, small and medium-sized enterprises and large corporations across the country.
Originally founded as Banco de Santiago in the late 1970s, the institution became part of the Santander Group following the privatization wave in Chile during the late 1980s.
