Brazil's Santander posts 41% jump in first-quarter profit (updated)

Banco Santander Brasil SA

30/04/2024 12:27

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       SAO PAULO, April 30 (Reuters) - Santander Brasil's
 SANB3.SA  recurring net income jumped 41.2% year-on-year to
3.02 billion reais ($590 million) in the first quarter, the bank
reported on Tuesday, highlighting it has managed to resume
growth after some tough quarters.
    The bottom line topped the 2.89 billion reais expected by
analysts polled by LSEG, with net interest income (NII) growing
both in the client and market segments.
    Latin America's largest economy is a key market for Spain's
Banco Santander  SAN.MC , the parent of Santander Brasil, which
reported its first quarter results earlier in the day signalling
higher profitability this year.
    Santander's Brazilian unit has focused in recent years on
being more selective in its lending as credit conditions
deteriorated, but reported some poor results while implementing
the strategy.
    "We have progressed as anticipated," Chief Financial Officer
Gustavo Alejo said in a statement. "The breakdown of our results
highlights a significant expansion in our business, with quality
in our balance sheet."
    Santander Brasil's provisions for loan losses fell 12.1% on
a yearly basis to 6.04 billion reais, while its consolidated
loan book was up 8.1% to 654.02 billion reais.
    Return on average equity (ROAE), a gauge of profitability,
was 14.1%, a rise of 3.5 percentage points. NII - earnings on
loans minus deposit costs - jumped 14.5% to 14.79 billion reais.
    ($1 = 5.1175 reais)

 (Reporting by Gabriel Araujo and Peter Frontini; Editing by
Jason Neely and Mark Potter)
 ((Peter.Siqueira@thomsonreuters.com;))