MADRID: Spain's Santander on Wednesday said its net profit in the third quarter rose 24% against the same period of last year thanks to lower loan loss provisions and a solid performance in its markets in the United States and Britain.

The euro zone second-biggest lender in terms of market value reported a net profit of 2.17 billion euros ($2.53 billion), more than the 1.97 billion euros forecast by analysts polled by Reuters.

"Our performance in the US and the U.K. were particularly strong, underscoring the effectiveness of our strategy in these important markets," Santander Executive Chairman Ana Botin said in a statement.

The lender also managed to improve its core tier-1 fully loaded capital ratio, the strictest measures of solvency, to 11.85% from 11.7% in June boosted by the cut in the dividend pay-out accrual to 40% from 50%.