SAO PAULO, Brazil – Itau Unibanco Holding SA reported Monday a first quarter recurring income of 7.36 Billion Reis ($1.45 Billion), an increase of 15.1% from the previous year. This was due to higher credit volumes and accelerated growth in its loan portfolio.

According to Refinitiv, analysts polled by Refinitiv, the figure for country’s biggest bank was in line with 7.35 billion real net income.

Itau reported in a securities filing that even though the loan-loss provisions increased by 57.8% and jumped to 6.998 billion reais, bottom line growth still occurred.

Alexsandro Broedel Chief Financial Officer stated that the first quarter’s results showed the sustainability and consistency of our performance, even under difficult circumstances.

($1 = 5.0776 reais)