By Jesús Aguado
MADRID (Reuters) -Spain’s Caixabank said on Friday its net profit rose 21% in the first quarter from the same period in 2022 thanks to a strong increase in lending income and a solid performance of its insurance business.
The lender reported a net profit of 855 million euros ($943.83 million) in the January to March period despite a cost of 373 million euros from a new banking tax. Analysts polled by Reuters expected a net profit of 643 million euros.
Spanish lenders, including Caixabank, Sabadell, Santander, BBVA, have legally challenged the tax.
Despite economic uncertainty, banks across Europe are benefiting from higher interest rates and Caixabank’s net interest income in the quarter rose 49% year-on-year to 2.16 billion euros, beating the 2.02 billion euros analysts expected.
By the end of March, deposits from retail clients at Caixabank fell 1.4% against December following the banking turmoil triggered by last month’s failure of Silicon Valley Bank.
($1 = 0.9056 euros)
(Reporting by Jesús Aguado, editing by Inti Landauro)
