(Adds details)
GDANSK, April 25 (Reuters) - The Polish arm of Spain's
Santander on Tuesday posted a 24% year-on-year
rise in first-quarter net profit to 1.19 billion zlotys ($285.65
million), narrowly beating market expectations.
Growth in the quarterly consolidated pre-tax profit was
mainly driven by an almost 38% jump in net interest income to
3.09 billion zlotys, after interest rates rose in 2022 and as
the group's key credit portfolios grew.
Analysts polled by Reuters had estimated the bank would
report a net profit of 1.17 billion zlotys.
The rise in net profit came despite a four-fold increase in
legal provisions in relation to foreign currency mortgage loans
to 420.6 million zlotys.
Return on equity (ROE) stood at 12.4% at the end of the
first quarter, up from 8.6% in the first quarter of 2022, while
the lender's cost-to-income ratio dropped to 33.8% from 39.8%
with high income growth.
($1 = 4.1632 zlotys)
(Reporting by Mateusz Rabiega;
Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
