Santander Bancorp Declares Common Shares Dividend for the First Quarter SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, March 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Board of Directors of Santander BanCorp (NYSE: SBP; LATIBEX: XSBP), declared a cash dividend amounting to $0.16 per common share. The dividend shall be payable on April 1, 2005 to shareholders of record as of March 15, 2005. Cash dividends on common shares are eligible for direct reinvestment under the Company's Dividend Reinvestment and Cash Purchase Plan. For additional information on how to participate in Santander BanCorp's Dividend Reinvestment and Cash Purchase Plan, shareholders should contact our transfer agent and registrar, Mellon Investor Services LLC, at (800) 851-9677. Santander BanCorp is a publicly held financial holding company that is traded on the New York Stock Exchange and on Latibex (Madrid Stock Exchange). It has three wholly owned subsidiaries, Banco Santander Puerto Rico, Santander Securities Corporation and Santander Insurance Agency. Banco Santander Puerto Rico has been operating in Puerto Rico for nearly three decades. It offers a full array of services through 65 branches in the areas of commercial, mortgage and consumer banking, supported by a team of 1,600 employees. Santander Securities offers securities brokerage services and provides portfolio management services through its wholly owned subsidiary Santander Asset Management Corporation. Santander Insurance Agency offers life, health and disability coverage as a corporate agent and also operates as a general agent. For more information, visit the Company's website at http:/// http://www.santandernet.com/ . Santander BanCorp is an 89% subsidiary of Banco Santander Central Hispano, S.A (Santander). Santander (SAN.MC, STD.N) ranks among the top 10 banks in the world and is the top bank in the Euro zone by market capitalization. Founded in 1857, it has 60 million clients, 9,970 offices and presence in more than 40 countries. It is the leading Financial Group in Spain and Latin America and develops an important business activity in Europe, where it has reached an outstanding presence in the United Kingdom through Abbey Bank. It is also the owner of the third financial group in Portugal as well as Santander Consumer Finance, a leading consumer financing unit with presence in Germany, Italy and other 9 European countries. Santander is the leading banking franchise in Latin America, where it maintains business volumes exceeding $122 billion (loans, deposits and on and off -- balance sheet funds under management), has more than 4.000 offices and presence in 10 countries. In 2004, Santander reached a net profit of $1,812 million in Latin America, 9% more than the previous year, with a net attributable of US$1,6 billion. DATASOURCE: Santander BanCorp CONTACT: Maria Calero, +1-787-751-6640, or Evelyn Vega, +1-787-777-4546, both of Santander BanCorp Web site: http://www.santandernet.com/

Copyright