TORONTO – Toronto-Dominion Bank, Canada’s second-largest bank with four branches in Rhode Island, said first-quarter profit climbed 19 percent on higher consumer-banking earnings. The lender boosted its dividend for the first time in almost three years, to 66 cents a share.
Net income for the period ended Jan. 31 rose to C$1.54 billion ($1.58 billion), or C$1.69 a share, from C$1.3 billion, or C$1.44, a year earlier, the Toronto-based lender said on Thursday in a statement. Results topped analysts’ estimates.
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Toronto-Dominion said domestic consumer banking profit surged 26 percent to C$905 million because of higher personal and commercial deposits and real estate loans. Consumer banking posted record profit last year as the lender increased its operations in Canada and the U.S.
“I look at this as a ‘steady as she goes’ type of story,” said Craig Fehr, an analyst at Edward Jones & Co. in St. Louis. CEO “Ed Clark has done a great job of navigating that ship slowly and surely.”
The lender increased its quarterly dividend 8.2 percent to 66 cents a share, becoming the second of Canada’s six main lenders to increase its payout following the financial crisis. National Bank of Canada raised its dividend in December.
The bank was expected to boost its payout to 64 cents a share, according to the Bloomberg Dividend Forecast function. At least eight analysts that cover Toronto-Dominion said a dividend increase was possible this quarter.
Profit before some items was C$1.74 a share, beating the C$1.55 a share average estimate of 15 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.
Topped Estimates
Toronto-Dominion climbed 57 cents to C$80.50 in trading on March 2 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The shares have risen 8.4 percent this year, compared with a 7 percent gain for the 10-member S&P/TSX Banks Index.
U.S. consumer banking, where the lender operates under the name TD Bank, climbed 77 percent to C$320 million. The bank agreed to buy Chrysler Financial from Cerberus Capital Management LP for about $6.3 billion in December to increase U.S. loan originations.
Investment-banking profit declined 36 percent to C$237 million because of lower fixed income and credit trading activity. Asset management, which includes the bank’s stake in TD Ameritrade Holding Corp., climbed 26 percent to C$181 million.
