This statement provides a summary of the unaudited business and financial trends for the 3 months ended 31 March 2012. Unless otherwise stated references to Santander UK and other general statements refer to the trading results and business flow analysis of Santander UK are compared to the same period in 2011. Balance sheet references are to the position as at 31 March 2012, unless otherwise stated.
Trading profit before tax is management's preferred profit measure when assessing the performance of the business and is the internal measure of segment profit required to be disclosed under IFRS 8. It is calculated by adjusting statutory profit before tax for reorganisation, customer remediation and other costs, hedging and other variances, profit on part sale and revaluation of subsidiaries and capital and other charges.
The results of Santander for the 3 months ended 31 March 2012 are also released today and can be found at www.santander.com. The results of Santander UK are included within Santander's financial statements on a Santander group reporting basis.
The main differences between the results of Santander UK on a statutory and of the United Kingdom on a Santander group reporting basis relate to the treatment of the London Branch. The London Branch is not part of the Santander UK legal entity but is included in the Santander Group results for the United Kingdom.