Spanish lender Santander announced on Wednesday that its first-quarter net profit rose by 60% compared to the same period in 2025, bolstered by capital gains of approximately 1.9 billion euros from the divestment of its Polish unit.

The Eurozone's largest bank by market capitalization reported a net profit of 5.46 billion euros, up from 3.4 billion euros in the prior-year quarter.

Excluding this one-off gain, underlying net profit increased by 12.5% year-on-year to reach 3.56 billion euros for the quarter, driven by higher revenue and improved loan yields. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecasted an underlying net profit of 3.58 billion euros.

(1 dollar = 0.8669 euros)

(Reporting by Jesús Aguado; editing by Aislinn Laing; Spanish editing by Benjamín Mejías Valencia)