"There are no plans to relocate. Our bank in the UK will be affected as much as the UK economy is, if there is less growth, we won't do as well," Botin told analysts on a conference call.

Botin said, however, they were "less pessimistic" about the performance of their British business and would not be revising estimates further since they cut profitability guidance for Britain last September.

Santander published full-year results on Wednesday in which it posted a 4 percent rise in 2016 net profit. Net profit in Britain fell almost 15 percent due to the fall in sterling, but analysts said underlying performance was strong.

(Reporting by Angus Berwick; Editing by Jesus Aguado)