MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's Banco Sabadell on Thursday said its second quarter net profit almost trebled from the same period a year ago on lower costs and provisions and higher lending revenues.
The country's fourth-largest bank in terms of total assets reported a net profit of 147 million euros ($174.3 million) in the April to June period. Analysts polled by Reuters expected a net profit of 86 million euros.
The lender, which had not paid a dividend against last year's results, said its board had proposed a cash dividend pay-out of 30% against 2021 results, following conversations with the supervisor.
Banks across Europe are under growing pressure from rising bad debts and record-low interest rates as they grapple with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sabadell managed to increase its net interest income, earnings from loans minus deposit costs, by 3.9% to 852 million euros, thanks to a rise in its total loan book. Analysts expected NII to come in at 848 million euros.
($1 = 0.8435 euros)