Santander UK hits target for 4 mln core UK customers as Q1 profits rise

LONDON, April 28 (Reuters) - Santander's British arm said it had hit its target of getting 4 million customer for its core banking product ahead of target after adding 370,000 customers in the first quarter as it attracted people switching from rivals.

Santander UK said its pretax profit was 470 million pounds ($716.8 million) in the first three months of this year, up 13 percent from a year ago. The UK growth helped its Spanish parent to post a 32 percent jump in first quarter profit on Tuesday.

But the UK unit warned competitive pressures were increasing in many business lines, which may hurt margins and slow its rate of growth. It also said implementation costs for regulatory reform were likely to increase in the coming months.

The lender reported as Santander UK Group Holding Plc for the first time, and said it intended to issue public debt through that vehicle after securing necessary approvals, which could mark another step towards the planned separation and flotation of the UK business.

($1 = 0.6557 pounds) (Reporting by Steve Slater, editing by Sinead Cruise)