MEXICO CITY, April 16 (Reuters) - Mexico's Grupo

Financiero Banorte reported on Tuesday a 9%

increase in first-quarter net profit from the year-ago period,

citing growth in its loan book.

Net profit for the quarter hit 14.21 billion pesos

($859.48 million).

Net interest income, the difference between what banks

earn on loans and dole out in deposits, grew 10% year-over-year

on the larger loan book, which also benefited from higher

interest rates.

Nearly all loan sectors showed double-digit growth

year-over-year, Banorte said.

Revenue for the group, which owns one of the country's

largest banks and pension funds, totaled 37.038 billion pesos in

the quarter, up 15% from a year earlier.

Return on equity jumped to 22.2%, up 134 basis points from

the fourth quarter, which Banorte attributed to seasonality in

the insurance business.

Non-financial expenses in the quarter dropped, Banorte

said, as the firm had paid out previously planned labor expenses

and early amortizations in the fourth quarter.

($1= 16.5310 Mexican pesos at the end of March)