Profit of Banco Santander in Q1 2015 jumped with 32%

Banco Santander SA said Tuesday that its net profit for the first quarter rose to 1.72 billion EUR from 1.3 billion EUR an year earlier, representing a 32% growth. The Spanish lender, which is the largest in the euro zone by market value, said net interest income reached 8.04 billion EUR from 6.99 billion EUR reported an year earlier, while the analysts expectations were for 7.83 billion EUR. The net profit of Banco Santander SA from interests, which the main driver of profits for retail banks is the difference between what lenders pay customers for deposits and what they receive from loans.

The Spanish economic recovery helped to increase the income of local banks on the local market in recent quarters. The Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said on Monday that the government expects the economy to grow by 2.9% this year compared with the previous target of 2.4%.

Although economic recovery many people and companies in Spain remain focused on the payment of current liabilities, which largely limited new lending. The process of deleveraging is among the toughest battles of the executive chairman of Santander ANA Botin, which seeks to enhance the profitability of the bank. Boutin, who took the helm of Santander after the death of his father in September, must also come to grips with the concerns of investors and analysts for weak growth in Brazil, which generates about one fifth of net profit of Santander.

Institutional investors in January admires the sale of new shares of Santander 7.5 billion EUR in a move designed to allay persistent concerns that the balance of the creditor is weaker than that of its competitors. The Bank needs to strengthen its capital adequacy further, although the capital position of Santander is now much better, we do not think it is in the best condition.