MADRID: Caixabank said on Tuesday its net profit rose 17.5% in the first quarter from the same period in 2023 thanks to higher lending income and its insurance unit’s solid performance.

Spain’s biggest lender by domestic assets reported a net profit of 1.01 billion euros ($1.08 billion) in the January to March, above the 980 million euros expected by analysts in a Reuters poll.

Spanish banks are mainly retail lenders and have benefited from higher interest rates, as they charged more on loans while they kept a lid on rates paid to savers.

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Caixabank’s net interest income, a measure of earnings on loans minus deposit costs, in the quarter rose 27.4% year-on-year to 2.78 billion euros, slightly higher than analysts’ forecasts of 2.72 billion euros.

NII rose around 1% against the previous quarter as interest rates have stayed higher for longer than initially expected.