SAO PAULO, May 8 (Reuters) - State-controlled lender Banco do Brasil reported on Wednesday a 8.8% growth in adjusted net profit for the first three months of 2024.

The bank posted adjusted net profit of 9.3 billion reais ($1.83 billion), while analysts polled by LSEG expected 9.1 billion reais.

The lender's total credit portfolio grew 2.7% from the previous quarter and 10.2% from a year earlier to 1.138 trillion reais, driven by the expansion in agribusiness loans.

During the quarter, Banco do Brasil had to set aside 8.54 billion reais for loans likely to default, down 14.4% from the previous three months, but nearly 46% above its provisions from a year earlier.

Banco do Brasil said its loan-loss provisions align with the size of its portfolio and reflect "the normalization of default rates of companies and agribusiness, which were below the historical average".

Its 90-day loan default ratio came in at 2.9%, or flat from the previous quarter.

Net interest income was also flat from the last quarter of 2023, but 21.6% above the figure reported a year earlier, at 25.73 billion reais. ($1 = 5.0882 reais) (Reporting by Peter Frontini; editing by Steven Grattan)