TD Bank reports 12% quarterly profit gain

TD Bank Group reported a profit of nearly $3.11 billion for the third quarter, up 12% from the same quarter last year, boosted by growth in its U.S. business.

The bank said Thursday the profit amounted to $1.65 per diluted share for the three months ended July 31, up from $1.46 a year ago.

On an adjusted basis, TD says it earned $1.66 per diluted share, up from an adjusted profit of $1.51 per diluted share a year ago.

Analysts on average had expected TD to report a profit of $1.63 per share, according to Thomson Reuters Eikon.

TD chief executive Bharat Masrani said the bank continued to invest in its key priorities.

“While we continue to see pockets of market uncertainty stemming from the geo-political climate, both the Canadian and U.S. economies continue to perform well and support a positive outlook for our diversified businesses across the bank as we head into the final stretch of the year,” Masrani said in a statement.

That message echoed positive comments from the CEOs of Canada’s other big banks during the past two weeks, as they reported increased profit at their main domestic operations.

Except for Bank of Nova Scotia, which saw a year-over-year decline in profit due to its international banking arm, all of the five biggest banks showed robust overall profit growth from last year.

In total, Canada’s five biggest banks reported $11.06 billion of net income for the three months ended July 31, about 9% above last year’s third quarter.

TD Bank and Royal Bank were virtually tied for top spot, with just under $3.11 billion in net income each.

TD’s Canadian retail business earned $1.85 billion for the quarter, up from nearly $1.73 billion a year ago, helped by revenue growth that was partially offset by higher insurance claims and non-interest expenses. For Q3 it reported assets under administration of $403 billion and assets under management of $297 billion, compared to $392 billion and $289 billion, respectively, in the second quarter.

Between the two quarters, the number of domestic TD retail branches dropped to 1,108 from 1,121, while the number of employees rose to nearly 39,000 from 38,051.

TD’s U.S. retail business earned $1.14 billion, up from $901 million in the same quarter last year, helped by loan and deposit volume growth, higher margins and benefits from U.S. tax reform.

The wholesale banking division earned $223 million this quarter, down from $293 million a year ago.

The bank’s common equity tier 1 ratio—a key measure of financial health—was 11.7% compared with 11.0% a year ago.

TD’s dividend of $0.67 remains unchanged from last quarter.

Also read:

BMO’s profit rises in Q3 on strong U.S. results

Scotiabank raises dividend as Q3 profit drops to $1.94B