Santander Brasil's profit up 6% in Q4 to highest in four years (updated)

Banco Santander Brasil SA

04/02/2026 10:54

Adds detailed results, context throughout

SAO PAULO, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Banco Santander Brasil's SANB3.SA fourth-quarter net profit rose 6% from a year earlier to 4.09 billion reais ($780.73 million), the lender said on Wednesday, slightly above the 4.03 billion reais expected by analysts polled by LSEG.

That marked the bank's highest quarterly profit in the past four years, it said in a securities filing, despite what it called a challenging macroeconomic backdrop amid high local interest rates.

BY THE NUMBERS

Net interest income (NII) - earnings on loans minus deposit costs - fell 4% to 15.33 billion reais.

Elevated borrowing costs negatively impacted the lender's market NII in the period, it said.

Return on average equity (ROAE), a gauge of profitability, hit 17.6%, unchanged from a year earlier.

Provision for loan losses rose 1.3% year-on-year to 6.77 billion reais, but fell 9.9% on a sequential basis.

Santander Brasil's expanded loan portfolio was up 3.7% to 708.2 billion reais.

ADDITIONAL CONTEXT, KEY QUOTES

Brazil is a key market for Spanish parent Banco Santander SAN.MC.

CEO Mario Leao said Santander Brasil is operating with prudence and pledged "rigorous cost management" as the macroeconomic scenario weighs on asset quality.

($1 = 5.2387 reais)

 (Reporting by Gabriel Araujo, Michael Susin and Tiago Brandao; Editing by Louise Heavens)

 ((Gabriel.Araujo2@thomsonreuters.com; +55 11 5047-3352;))