SAO PAULO, May 9 Reuters Brazilian lender Itau Unibanco Holding SA reported on Monday that firstquarter recurring net income rose 15 on a yearonyear basis, driven by higher credit volume as its loan book accelerated, and it reaffirmed its fullyear guidance.

Although analysts viewed the results as solid, Itau39;s shares were down 2.7 at 23.15 reais in morning trading, while the broader Bovespa stock index fell 1.8.

The country39;s largest bank posted a quarterly recurring net income of 7.36 billion reais 1.45 billion, in line with the 7.35 billion reais expected by analysts polled by Refinitiv.

Itau followedin the footsteps of its peer, Banco BTG Pactual SA, which posted record quarterly net income and revenue on Monday.

The bottom line growth for Itau came even as loanloss provisions jumped by 57.8 to 6.998 billion reais, it said in a securities filing.

Our first quarter results show the consistency and sustainability of our performance even in a challenging scenario, Itau Chief Financial Officer Alexsandro Broedel said.

He added that Itau had all the conditions needed to keep an extremely robust balance sheet in 2022.

Analysts at BTG Pactual said it was a clean quarter for Itau and that the results do not change their view for the year, with Itau and Banco do Brasil being their top picks among largecap Brazilian banks.

Guide Investimentos analysts said that Itau39;s results were solid overall, but noted that some key indicators such as the default ratio…