UPDATE 4-Brazilian lender BTG Pactual posts record net profit, revenue

(Adds share reaction, CFO quote, analyst comment)

By Gabriel Araujo

SAO PAULO, May 9 (Reuters) - Brazil's Banco BTG Pactual SA on Monday posted all-time high quarterly net income and total revenue, driven by what it called a "robust performance" across all business units.

Shares in BTG jumped following the results and were trading up 3.8% at 22.75 reais in mid afternoon, making it the top gainer on Brazil's Bovespa stock index, which fell 1.6%.

The lender reported a 72% jump in first-quarter recurring net profit to 2.06 billion reais ($405.7 million), the highest level since its 2012 initial public offering (IPO), according to a securities filing.

BTG's total quarterly revenue reached 4.35 billion reais, up 56% year on year, beating expected revenue of 3.76 billion reais from analysts polled by Refinitiv.

This came as the sales and trading unit, a major contributor to the lender's earnings, posted an 82.6% jump in revenue to 1.48 billion reais, boosted by a record contribution from client activity as it achieved its best quarter since 2016, BTG said.

Chief Financial Officer Renato Cohn said the unit was benefited by the expansion of BTG's client-related franchises and a moderate market volatility increase as clients looked to rebalance their portfolios.

"We are continuing to see a moderate volatility increase this quarter, and we are excited about this ... It will depend on how the markets will behave going forward, but we remain optimistic about delivering good results on sales and trading," Cohn told a press conference.

Analysts at Itau BBA welcomed the results as better-than-expected and reiterated an "Outperform" rating on BTG, which is their growth pick among Brazil financials.

"What should matter most for the shares is that BTG demonstrated that it is not suffering the woes affecting other Brazilian financials (such as bad credit or lower return on assets on wealth)," Itau BBA said.

The bank's return on equity - a gauge of profitability - hit 21.5%, 2.1 percentage points above the previous quarter and the highest level in six years, while its loan book rose 4.6% quarter on quarter to 111.5 billion reais.

The higher lending portfolio led revenue from the Corporate and SME Lending unit to hit an 816.6 million-real record high.

"Very strong results, well above market estimates. BTG keeps delivering double-digit growth despite the challenging, unfavorable macro scenario ... It is an interesting thesis to have in the portfolio," Warren Investimentos' head of research, Fred Nobre, told Reuters.

BTG's shareholders last month approved the return of the bank's founder Andre Esteves as chairman, years after he stepped down as CEO and chairman after being jailed briefly in 2015 on suspicion of corruption.

($1 = 5.0776 reais) (Reporting by Gabriel Araujo, Editing by Louise Heavens, Toby Chopra, Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Marguerita Choy)