MADRID, April 28 (Reuters) – Spain’s Unicaja (UNI.MC) on Friday said its net profit fell 43% in the first quarter from the same period in 2022 due to the impact from a new banking tax.

The lender reported a net profit of 34 million euros ($37.45 million) in the January to March period below the 50 million euros forecast by analysts’ polled by Reuters.

The lender said the impact from the levy rose to 63.8 million euros and was fully booked in the quarter.

Spanish lenders, including Sabadell, Santander (SAN.MC), BBVA (BBVA.MC), and Caixabank (CABK.MC) have legally challenged the tax.

Despite economic uncertainty, banks across Europe are benefiting from higher interest rates and Unicaja’s net interest income in the quarter rose 25% year-on-year to 293 million euros, slightly below the 300 million euros analysts expected.

($1 = 0.9079 euros)

Reporting by Jesús Aguado; editing by Inti Landauro

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.