MONTREAL — National Bank of Canada raised its dividend as it reported its fourth-quarter profit fell four per cent compared with a year ago.
The Montreal-based bank said Wednesday it will up its quarterly payment to shareholders by five cents to 97 cents per share.
The increased payment came as National Bank said it earned $738 million or $2.08 per diluted share for the quarter ended Oct. 31, down from $769 million or $2.17 per diluted share in the same quarter last year. Revenue totalled $2.33 billion, up from $2.21 billion a year earlier.
Provisions for credit losses totalled $87 million in the fourth quarter compared with a recovery of $41 million a year ago.
National Bank said it earned $2.08 per diluted share on an adjusted basis in its latest quarter, down from an adjusted profit of $2.19 per diluted share in the same quarter last year.
Analysts on average had expected a profit of $2.24 per share, according to estimates compiled by financial markets data firm Refinitiv.
The results came as National Bank's personal and commercial banking business earned $351 million in its fourth quarter, up from $311 million in the same quarter last year.
National Bank said its wealth management operations earned $198 million in its latest quarter, up from $160 million a year earlier. Its financial markets business earned $205 million, down from $238 million a year ago.
The bank's U.S. specialty finance and international operations earned $132 million, up from $129 million in the same quarter last year, while under the other heading the bank reported a loss of $148 million compared with a loss of $69 million a year earlier.
For its full year ended Oct. 31, National Bank said its overall profit amounted to $3.38 billion or $9.61 per diluted share on $9.65 billion in revenue compared with a profit of $3.14 billion or $8.85 per diluted share on $8.93 billion in revenue during the same period a year earlier.
"We generated superior organic growth across all our business segments and the operating leverage was positive for the year," National Bank chief executive Laurent Ferreira said in a statement.
"We maintain prudent allowances for credit losses and robust capital ratios. We continue to prioritize deploying capital to support organic growth, investing in efficiency improvements and returning capital to shareholders."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 30, 2022.
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