MADRID, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Spain’s Santander on Wednesday said its net profit in the third quarter rose 24% against the same period of last year thanks to lower loan loss provisions and a solid performance in the United States and Britain. The euro zone second-biggest lender in terms of market value reported a net profit of 2.17 billion euros ($2.53 billion), more than the 1.97 billion euros forecast by analysts polled by Reuters. $1 = 0.8593 euros Reporting by Jesús Aguado, editing by Inti Landauro