By Jesús Aguado
MADRID (Reuters) -Spain's Santander bank reported a 7.8% year-on-year rise in its third-quarter net profit, saying a strong performance in its U.S. business offset lower lending income and some weakness in Brazil.
The net profit of 3.5 billion euros ($4.08 billion) in the July-September quarter reported by the euro zone's biggest bank came above the 3.39 billion euros expected by analysts in a Reuters poll and was the sixth consecutive record-high quarterly result.
A rise of 4.3% in
fees and of 0.87% in revenues compensated a decline of 1.1% in lending income, the bank said.
Santander's measure of profitability, tangible-equity ratio (ROTE) after the impact of additional Tier 1 (AT1) capital instruments, remained unchanged at 16.2% compared to the previous quarter. The bank said it was on track to meet its target of around 16.5% for this year and its full-year revenue target of around 62 billion euros.
Executive Chair Ana Botin said Santander's geographical spread - it operates in 10 core markets in Europe and the Americas - would act as a stabiliser in an uncertain global environment.
"Looking ahead, we are on track to meet all our 2025 targets and, amid continued geopolitical and market uncertainty, we are confident we will continue delivering further profitable growth," Botin said in a statement.
Underlying net profit in the U.S., its fifth-largest market, rose 64% supported by higher lending income and higher fees from its corporate and investment banking business.
The bank has benefited in the past from higher interest rates, while growth in key Latin American markets has given it an edge over more Europe-dependent rivals.
But it was hit by currency depreciations in some of its emerging markets, such as Brazil, where the real's devaluation drove the underlying net profit down 5.9% in the quarter.
($1 = 0.8575 euros)
(Reporting by Jesús Aguado; Editing by David Latona and Tomasz Janowski)
