Sovereign Bank’s net income increased more than 35 percent to $368 million for the first nine months of 2012, compared to $272 million for the previous nine months of 2011.

Sovereign also reported its 11th consecutive quarter of profitability with net income of $123 million for the third quarter this year.

Sovereign Bank had a strong quarter of loan production in residential mortgages, small business lending and corporate banking. Total loan production for the third quarter of 2012 was $5.2 billion, a 51 percent increase over loan production during the third quarter of 2011.

Lending to commercial and industrial businesses grew by 27 percent during the third quarter of 2012 compared to the same time in 2011.

Outstanding total loan balances grew by 2.6 percent during the first three quarters of 2012 to $53 billion.

Sovereign Bank continues to focus on home ownership with residential mortgage production up 44 percent in the third quarter of 2012 when compared to the same quarter last year.  

Sovereign’s lending to small businesses has grown by 9 percent year-to-date through September. The industry is trending at 2 percent annual growth, according to a company statement.

Net interest income grew by 1.3 percent to $1.4 billion and fees and other income grew by 5.4 percent to $449 million for the first nine months of 2012 compared to the same period in 2011.