MADRID (Reuters) – Spain’s Santander on Tuesday said its net profit in the first quarter rose 58% compared to the same period a year ago thanks to a recovery in Europe and a solid performance in South America.
The euro zone second-biggest lender in terms of market value booked a net profit of 2.54 billion euros ($2.72 billion), up from 1.608 billion euros in the same quarter last year when earnings were impacted by net restructuring charges worth 530 million euros.
Analysts polled by Reuters expected Santander to post a net profit of 2.26 billion euros.
($1 = 0.8282 euros)
(Reporting by Jesús Aguado, editing by Inti Landauro)
