Santander takes 600 million euro impairment, makes board changes

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's largest bank Santander said it would take an impairment charge of 600 million euros (532 million pounds), mostly due to its U.S. consumer finance group, a move it said would hit fourth quarter earnings.

The decision follows a review of the bank's goodwill and is driven by a fall in earnings at Santander Consumer USA Holdings relative to previous years, Santander said in a statement late on Tuesday.

Santander said that the sale of Allfunds Bank, partly to funds GIC and Hellman & Friedman and partly to Warburg Pincus and General Atlantic, would reduce its fully loaded core tier 1 capital ratio (CET1) by nine basis points in the fourth quarter.

At the close of the third quarter, Santander's fully loaded CET1 was 10.8 percent.

The bank reiterated its plan to raise its dividend this year and next and raise earnings per share in 2017 and by double digits in 2018.

It also said long-term board members Isabel Tocino and Matias Rodriguez would leave the board and take other positions within the bank.

It proposed that the head of the Spain and Portugal arm of BNP Paribas, Ramiro Mato, join the executive committee and be appointed as an independent board member.

(Reporting by Paul Day; editing by Jason Neely)