MADRID, Oct 30 (Reuters) -

Spain's Unicaja on Monday said its net profit rose 35% in the third quarter from the same period in 2022 as higher lending income offset a decline in loans.

The lender reported a net profit of 137 million euros in the July to September period, more than the 126 million euros forecast by analysts polled by Reuters.

Unicaja's total performing loan book in the third quarter shrank 7.1% year-on-year and 3.3% from the previous quarter.

Banks across Europe, especially purely Spanish retail lenders, are benefiting from higher interest rates and Unicaja's net interest income, earnings on loans minus deposit costs, rose 33.9% year-on-year in the quarter to 357 million euros.

Lending income was higher than the 353 million euros analysts expected and was 11.5% higher than in the previous quarter.

($1 = 0.9471 euros) (Reporting by Jesús Aguado, editing by Inti Landauro)