Banco Santander Q1 Profit Climbs 32% - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Spanish lender Banco Santander SA (BNC.L, BSBR, SAN) Tuesday said its attributable profit climbed 32 percent in the first quarter to 1.717 billion euros from 1.303 billion euros last year. The profit growth would have been 22 percent without the exchange rate effect.

Earnings per share were 0.121 euro, compared to 0.113 last year. The increase in profit was supported by the bank's three largest markets - Spain, UK and Brazil. According to the lender, of the ten core markets in which the group operates, only Chile showed a decline in profit.

Revenues increased 13 percent and were 7 percent higher without the exchange rate factor. Net interest income increased to 8.038 billion euros from 6.992 billion euros.

Lending jumped 14 percent and was 7 percent higher, when the exchange rate variation is excluded.

Ana Botín, Chairman of Banco Santander, said, "Santander's strong increase in lending reflects our commitment to helping our customers grow. When we raised capital in January, we said our goal was to target organic growth in our core markets forecasted to achieve strong economic recovery."