Santander UK to add 600 jobs as deal, spin-off loom

* UK business to add jobs in branches, call centres in H2

* Q2 trading profit 449 mln stg, up 7 pct on year

* Q2 provisions dip to 187 mln stg, down 8 pct on Q1

LONDON, July 29 (Reuters) - Santander's British arm, which
is near to buying over 300 more branches and may be spun off by
the Spanish bank, said it will add 600 new jobs after posting a
10 percent rise in first-half profit.

Santander (SAN.MC) said the jobs will be added in branches
and call centres by the end of this year to support business
growth as it wins market share.

The UK arm's trading profit was 449 million pounds ($701.3
million) in the second quarter, up 7 percent on the year. For
Santander's group results, click on [ID:nLDE66R1FQ]

The euro-zone's biggest bank is in exclusive talks to buy
318 UK branches from Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L) for about
1.8 billion pounds, people familiar with the matter have said. A
deal could come by RBS's results on August 6. [ID:nLDE65E205]

Sources have also said Santander was considering listing its
UK operations, following the successful spin-off of its
Brazilian business last year. The sale of a 20 percent stake
could raise 2 billion to 3 billion pounds, potentially as early
as this autumn. [ID:nLDE66L0B8]

Santander, which has over 1,300 UK branches after buying
Abbey six years ago and striking opportunistic deals during the
financial crisis, said its gross mortgage lending rose 14
percent in the first half from a year ago. That was an estimated
market share of 19 percent, up from its typical market share of
about 14 percent.

Britain's banks, including HSBC (HSBA.L), Barclays (BARC.L)
and RBS, do not report results until next week.

Britain accounts for about 16 percent of Santander's
profits. Its UK Q2 results included (in millions of pounds,
percent, lending figures rounded):

Q2 2010 Q1 2010 H1 2009
Trading profit 449 426 790
Revenue 2,574 (for H1) 2,428
Provisions 187 204 365
Mortgage gross lending 6,600 5,700 10,800
Mortgage net lending 1,900 1,400 2,000
Mortgage gross mkt share 19.3% 18.9% 16.3%
Bank account mkt share 9.1% 8.9% 8.7%
Cost/income ratio 39% (for H1)

(Reporting by Steve Slater; Editing by Mike Nesbit)
($1=.6402 pounds)