Caixabank 1Q Profit Nearly Doubles, Boosted by Barclays Unit Deal

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.

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