Banco Santander SA’s fourth-quarter net profit rose significantly, beating expectations and helped by one-offs, with the bank strengthening its capital position.

Net profit for the quarter rose 35% to 2.78 billion euros ($3.06 billion), the Spanish bank SAN, +1.84% SAN, +2.16%  said Wednesday.

The results include EUR711 million capital gains, mostly related to the agreement the bank reached with Credit Agricole SA (ACA.FR) to combine their custody and asset-servicing operations.

On an underlying basis, net profit rose 2% on year.

Revenue for the quarter was EUR12.33 billion.

Analysts had expected net profit of EUR2.59 billion on revenue of EUR12.38 billion, according to a consensus forecast provided by FactSet.

For the full year, the bank reported net profit of EUR6.52 billion on revenue of EUR49.23 billion.

The bank’s core tier 1 ratio, a key measure of balance-sheet strength, was 11.65% at the end of December, compared with 11.30% as of September.

“We are well on track to achieve our medium-term goals and expect to deliver high single digit average annual earnings per share growth over the next three years,” Executive Chairman Ana Botin said.

The bank proposed a second dividend for 2019, taking the total dividend for the year to EUR0.23 a share, of which EUR0.20 will be cash.