Abbey takes 16% share of mortgage market

According to Santander's results from the first six months of the year, its UK arm, which includes Abbey, Alliance & Leicester and the deposit book of Bradford & Bingley, has jumped 30% in profit in the first six months of the year.

Santander is also now the third largest in the UK for retail deposits, posting a £790m profit for the first six months of the year.

The bank also said it grew revenues by a fifth, while keeping costs down. It has attributed its increase in revenues to prudent lending decisions taken during the housing boom, when Abbey scaled back in mortgages.

The acquisitions of B&B and A&L last year boosted Santander's UK profit by 62.8% compared to the same time last year. B&B contributed £7m in profit and A&L £137m.

António Horta-Osório, chief executive of Santander, attributed the success in profits to its decision to buy B&B's £21bn deposit book in a £612m deal.

He said: ""We have delivered an excellent increase in revenue and profit despite tough market conditions, underpinned by market share gains and growth across all business divisions. Our net interest margin is increasing because we do not need to use expensive funding as we have £20bn of B&B deposits," he said.