Banco del Estado de Chile posted a first-quarter 2017 net profit of 45.86 billion Chilean pesos as the company saw a 111.4% increase in tax expenses.

The first-quarter 2017 net profit figure, which was 18.9% lower than the 56.53 billion pesos earned a year earlier, came as the bank saw its income tax expense rose to 25.05 billion pesos from 11.85 billion pesos year over year.

The company's income tax rate came in at 35.3% from 17.3% year over year.

Pretax profit was up 3.7% year over year at 70.92 billion pesos.

The Santiago-based company reported net income attributable to owners of about 43.10 billion pesos for the three-month period, down 19.9% from 53.78 billion pesos a year ago. The bank's return on average equity dropped year over year to 18% in the first quarter from 18.2%.

Net interest income for the quarter rose to 193.94 billion pesos from 173.62 billion pesos a year earlier. The bank's net interest margin remained unchanged at 3.3% from a year ago and fell from 3.6% in the prior quarter.

Fee income totaled 65.92 billion pesos for the three-month period, up from 56.11 billion pesos in the prior-year quarter.

Total loans as of March 31 grew 6.1% year over year, coming to 20.89 trillion pesos, driven mainly by a 10.2% rise in consumer loans.

Net provisions for loan losses for the period totaled 62.66 billion pesos, increasing 33.3% from the linked quarter due to an increase in both regulatory and additional provisions, while rising 34.3% from the previous year. The ratio of nonperforming loans to total loans rose to 3.63% from 3.32% a year ago.

Also weighing on the results was a 7.3% increase in operating costs, which rose to 188.92 billion pesos in the first quarter from 176.11 billion pesos a year ago.

As of May 30, US$1 was equivalent to 675.02 Chilean pesos.