SAO PAULO, Reuters Brazil39;s Itau Unibanco, Latin America39;s largest private lender, on Tuesday posted secondquarter profit that was up 15.2 from a year earlier, boosted by higher revenues and lower cost of credit.

Itau posted a 10.07 billion real net recurring profit 1.8 billion for the quarter ended in June, slightly more than the 9.99 billion reais estimated by analysts polled by LSEG.

Return on equity, a gauge of profitability, stood at 22.4, up from 20.9 a year earlier.

Although net profit was mostly in line with estimates, analysts welcomed the results.

An overall healthy print by Itau Unibanco, analysts at Citi said in a note. The bank maintains strong momentum across the board and continues accumulating capital, which should bode well for investors39; total returns in the midterm.

Itau39;s main rivals Bradesco and Santander Brasil have both reported net income above market expectations.

Itau39;s net recurring profit increase was helped by a 6.4 annual rise in net interest income, a measure of loans minus deposit costs and its largest source of revenue.

The performance was boosted by a nearly 6 rise in the bank39;s credit portfolio from the previous quarter to 1.25 trillion reais, with Itau accelerating credit growth following recent mild quarters.

The bank in the last two years has implemented a strategy to revise the credit given to highly indebted customers, which slowed its portfolio growth, but executives had said Itau would now start to accelerate…