By Christopher Bjork
MADRID-Spain's Caixabank SA (CABK.MC) said Thursday its net
profit nearly doubled in the first quarter, helped by the recent
purchase of the local unit of Barclays PLC (BCS) and higher
dividend payments from its industrial holdings.
Spain's third-largest bank by market value said net profit rose
99% in the latest period from a year earlier, to 375 million euros
($402 million). Analysts polled by data provider FactSet had
expected net profit of EUR317.2 million.
The Barcelona-based lender reported net interest income of
EUR1.14 billion, an increase of just under 15% compared with a year
earlier. Net interest income is the difference between what banks
pay for deposits and charge for loans. Analysts had forecast net
interest income of EUR1.13 billion.
The Barclays purchase helped Caixabank increase its loan book by
7.6% on the year, and overall assets by 5%, to EUR355.6
billion.
Caixabank is locked in a takeover battle with major shareholders
in Portugal's Banco BPI SA (BPI.LB) who say the Spanish bank should
be offering more to investors. BPI's board said Caixabank needed to
raise its EUR1.09 billion offer.
Caixabank has said that its offer was fair.
Write to Christopher Bjork at christopher.bjork@wsj.com