PHILADELPHIA – Banco Santander S.A., the Spanish banking giant that bought Sovereign Bancorp last year, said Thursday the newly acquired U.S. bank lost money last year but broke even in the final quarter.

Madrid-based Santander posted a profit of 2.2 billion euros ($3.1 billion) in the fourth quarter, up about 13 percent from 1.94 billion euros a year earlier. The result came in slightly ahead of analysts’ predictions of a profit of 2.13 billion euros, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

Santander also said Sovereign broke even in the fourth quarter for the first time since the Spanish bank purchased the 75 percent of the U.S. lender it did not already own in January 2009, The New York Times reported. The division lost 25 million euros ($34.6 million) in 2009.

“Sovereign brought in no profit in 2009, but will in 2010,” Alfredo Sáenz, Santander’s chief executive and vice chairman, told reporters at a news conference in Madrid.

For the full year, Santander, one of Europe’s biggest banks and Spain’s largest, posted a profit of 8.94 billion euros ($13.38 billion), an increase of 1 percent from the 8.88 billion euros the bank earned in 2008.

The bank expects a further increase in bad loans through the middle of this year, Sáenz said.

Sovereign Bank was the fourth-largest bank in Rhode Island by deposits as of June 2009, with $2 billion, or 7 percent, of the statewide total, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. The bank had 32 branches in Rhode Island, third-most in the state.

Additional information is available at sovereignbank.com.