The ratings on Abbey National PLC--which operates under the trading name "Abbey"--are based upon its position in the Banco Santander Central Hispano, S.A. group (Santander; AA/Stable/A-1+), and its solid business and financial profile. Abbey's business diversity is more modest than larger U.K. peers and its earnings track is very weak by comparison, but henceforth Standard&Poor's Ratings Services is expecting Abbey to perform well. Acquired by Santander in 2004, Standard&Poor's considers that Abbey is now making sound progress to improve business flows and earnings measures, after several years of upheaval. Standard&Poor's considers Abbey to be core to Santander given its importance to the credibility of Santander's geographic diversification strategy. As a result, the ratings on
