Santander increases net profit by 36% in the third quarter, supported in Brazil and Spain

MADRID (Reuters) – Banco Santander said Wednesday that its net profit rose 36 percent in the third quarter compared to the same period last year, thanks to strong results in Spain and Spain. Brazil's underlying benefit losses in Argentina.

Santander, the largest bank in the eurozone's market capitalization, reported net profit of 1.99 billion euros between July and September. Analysts expected a net profit of 1,920 million euros.

In Argentina, where the bank gets 1% of its net profit, the entity has recorded losses of 169 million euros during the quarter, after having reformulated its accounts to reflect the l 39; hyperinflation, although it also had a positive impact on the results. the net worth of 105 million euros.

The diversification of Santander abroad, particularly in Brazil, has enabled it to cope with the harsh conditions of banks in Europe since the financial crisis.

In Brazil, where the bank made more than a quarter of its profit, net profit fell by 6.1% compared to the same period of the previous year due to the depreciation of the Brazilian real.

Without taking into account the depreciation of the real, net income for the quarter increased by 16.7%, thanks to solid growth in business volumes.

In Spain, its second largest market, net profit almost tripled thanks to the positive contribution of the Banco Popular acquisition.

In this market, the interest margin – the difference between what the bank charges for loans and pays for deposits – decreased by 0.9 during the quarter, but increased by 5.5 % compared to the previous quarter.

Overall, net interest income was established at 8,350 million euros between June and September, 3.8% less than one year and 1.5%. % compared to the previous quarter due to the pressure of low interest rates.

Analysts had forecast a net interest margin of 8,220 million euros.

(1 dollar = 0.8790 euros)