Santander Brasil's second-quarter net profit up 9.8%, slightly below forecasts

SAO PAULO, July 30 (Reuters) - Banco Santander Brasil's SANB3.SA second-quarter net profit rose 9.8% from a year earlier but landed slightly below market expectations, a securities filing showed on Wednesday, amid global trade tensions and high local interest rates.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

Brazil is a key market for Spanish parent Banco Santander SAN.MC, which reported its own quarterly results earlier in the day, maintaining its guidance for higher profits this year despite some weakness in Latin America.

BY THE NUMBERS

Santander Brasil's net profit reached 3.66 billion reais ($656.6 million) in the April-June quarter, the bank said, while analysts polled by LSEG expected it to come in at 3.73 billion reais.

Net interest income - earnings on loans minus deposit costs - rose 4.4% to 15.4 billion reais. Return on average equity (ROAE), a gauge of profitability, hit 16.4%, up from 15.5% a year earlier but slowing from the first quarter's 17.4%.

Allowance for loan losses grew 16.4% on a yearly basis to 6.86 billion reais, while the expanded loan portfolio rose 1.5% to 675.5 billion reais.

KEY QUOTES

CEO Mario Leao said in a statement that a "more challenging macroeconomic environment" led Santander Brasil's net profit and return on equity to expand versus 2024 but decline compared to the previous three-month period.

"Non-performing loan ratios are still challenged by the macro environment, but are already showing improvement this quarter," he added. Leao pledged to keep a "disciplined approach to capital allocation".

($1 = 5.5741 reais)