* Net profit up 11% to 2.85 bln euros, in line with forecasts

* Q1 NII rises 17.7% y/y, 7.7% q/q

* Chair Ana Botin says bank on track to meet 2024 targets

MADRID, April 30 (Reuters) - Santander posted an 11% rise in first-quarter net profit on Tuesday as Spain led a solid retail banking performance in Europe that offset weakness in Britain and higher provisions.

The euro zone's second-biggest lender by market value booked a net profit of 2.85 billion euros ($3.05 billion), topping the 2.87 billion expected by analysts.

Santander has relied on Latin America in the past to cope with tough conditions in Europe but as with other banks across the region, it has benefited from a steep rise in European interest rates since July 2022.

"It has been a very strong start to the year, with revenues growing 10% (...) and we are well on track to meet all our targets for the year, including a return on tangible equity of 16%," Executive Chair Ana Botin said in a statement.

Its retail business leads the bank's five global units in earnings, which the bank started reporting as primary segments under a new business model as of the first quarter. Regions are now accounted as secondary segments.

Its retail unit, which accounts for around half of the group's earnings, as well as its wealth and payments units, booked a rise in profit of more than 20%.

Profit at its Digital Consumer Bank fell 5%, while Corporate and Investment Banking also declined 5% despite record high revenue of 2.1 billion euros.

Overall, net interest income, or earnings on loans minus deposit costs, rose 17.7% to 11.98 billion euros, above the 11.5 billion that analysts expected.

Against the previous quarter, NII rose 7.7% as interest rates in the euro zone remained higher for longer than expected, helping its Spanish business, which has been charging more on loans while keeping a lid on rates paid to savers.

In this context, net profit in Spain rose 66% in the quarter, while NII was up 24%.

In the UK, net profit fell 23% due to a contraction in lending income in a competitive mortgage environment.

($1 = 0.9341 euros) (Reporting by Jesús Aguado, editing by Inti Landauro and Jason Neely)