Mexico's Banorte first-quarter net profit jumps 26%

(Reuters) - Mexico's Grupo Financiero Banorte on Thursday reported a higher-than-expected first-quarter net profit of 10.7 billion pesos ($540 million), up 26% from a year ago.

Analysts' had been estimating a profit of 9.64 billion pesos, according to Refinitiv.

Revenue for the group, which owns one of the country's largest banks and pension funds, stood at 28.4 billion pesos in the first quarter, up 18% from a year earlier.

The company also said it expects full-year net income of 40.5 billion pesos to 42 billion pesos, up from an earlier forecast of 39.5 billion pesos to 41.1 billion pesos.

Banorte lowered its loan growth forecast for 2022 to 5% to 7%, from its prior view of 7% to 9%.

($1 = 19.8911 pesos at end-March)

(Reporting by Carolina Pulice and Noe Torres; Editing by Bill Berkrot)