MADRID (Reuters) -Spain’s Bankinter said on Thursday its first quarter net profit rose 35% from the same period in 2024 as higher fees and rise in its overall loan book offset a decline in financial margins.
The country’s fifth-largest bank by market value reported a net profit of 270 million euros ($306 million) in the January to March period, more than the 224 million euros expected by analysts polled by Reuters.
As all banks in the region try to raise non-core banking revenues, Bankinter’s net fees and commissions rose 13% year-on-year in the quarter while overall loans rose 5% in a still solid domestic macroeconomic environment despite risks from trade policies for the global economy.
Spanish banks are mainly retail lenders and have benefited from higher borrowing costs. However, this tailwind is reversing as the European Central Bank has cut interest rates.
In this context, the bank’s net interest income (NII), earnings on loans minus deposit costs, fell 6% year-on-year in the quarter to 541 million euros, in line with analysts’ forecasts. Against the previous quarter, NII fell 2%.
($1 = 0.9118 euros)
(Reporting by Jesús Aguado, editing by Inti Landauro)
