MEXICO CITY, April 20 (Reuters) - Mexico's Grupo Financiero Banorte reported a 21% increase in its first quarter net profit from the year-ago period fueled by higher interest rates, the company said in a statement on Thursday.

Net profit for the January-to-March period totaled 13.02 billion pesos ($722 million).

Revenue for the group, which owns one of the country's largest banks and pension funds, totaled 32.33 billion pesos in the quarter, up 16.6% from a year earlier but short of the average Refinitiv forecast of 34.4 billion pesos.

Interest-related revenue jumped 58% during the quarter compared to the same three-month period last year.

The bank's performing loan book, meanwhile, grew 4% quarter-over-quarter.

Non-interest expenses in the first quarter increased 11% versus a year earlier.

Earnings per share reached 4.515 pesos in the first three months of the year, slightly behind the average Refinitiv forecast of 4.54.

($1 = 18.0201 pesos at end-March) (Reporting by Isabel Woodford and Noe Torres; Editing by David Alire Garcia and Sonali Paul)