* Q1 net profit 195 million euros
* First results as merged company for Caja Madrid-led group
* Potential flotation key gauge for faith in Spanish banks
(Adds analyst comment, detail)
By Sonya Dowsett
MADRID, May 10 (Reuters) - Banco Financiero y de Ahorros (BFA) posted maiden first-quarter results marked by falling income and rising bad loans, casting a shadow over its planned listing this year. Net profit of 195 million euros ($279 million) at Spain's biggest savings bank by assets, formed from the merger of Caja Madrid and six other savings banks, rose 16 percent on one-off items like the sale and lease back of its branch network.
But bad loans were among the worst in Spain while gross operating margin slumped by nearly a third to 1.1 billion euros, hit by rising funding costs and provisions against toxic assets like foreclosed real estate and loans to bankrupt developers.
"The results are not good, and I don't think they support a strong IPO," said one London-based analyst, who asked to remain anonymous.
Spain's strong international banks like BBVA and Santander are blue chip household names, but a smaller and weaker regional savings bank sector could find it harder to woo investors to boost their capital to required levels.
BFA is the parent company of new retail bank Bankia which it hopes to float alongside Santander and BBVA on Madrid's stock exchange this year in a gauge of confidence in the Spanish banking system.
A failure to attract investors will indicate that deep reforms carried by Spain, including forced mergers of savings banks and demands for banks to build some of the highest capital levels in Europe, are not enough to rekindle market faith.
The reforms have been aimed at reassuring international markets that unscrupulous lending by banks during a decade-long property boom will not endanger the stability of the financial system or increase risk of an Ireland-style debt crisis.
Sector heavyweight Bankia accounts for 27 percent of loans in the savings bank sector, according to Goldman Sachs, compared with 23 percent for Barcelona-based rival La Caixa. The merger became effective on Jan. 1.
Bad loans as a percentage of total loans rose to 6.68 percent at end-March from 6.34 percent at end-December, above the sector average. Core capital improved to 7.34 percent, still undershooting government minimum levels.
The Caja Madrid-led merged entity needs 1.8 billion euros to meet the 8 percent core capital ratio -- a measure of financial resilience to a downturn -- set by the government. It has already received 4.5 billion euros from the state-backed bank restructuring fund.
Bankia is likely to wait until after June to list, by which time it will have six month's financial statements to present a convincing case to investors, lawyers have told Reuters. (Editing by David Cowell) ($1 = 0.7000 euro)