National Bank reports Q4 profit down from year ago, raises quarterly dividend

National Bank of Canada raised its dividend as it reported its fourth-quarter profit fell 4% 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. Its financial markets business earned $205 million, down from $238 million a year ago.

Net income in the wealth management segment totalled $198 million in the quarter, a 24% increase from $160 million in the same period the previous year. Total revenues amounted to $613 million, up by $52 million or 9% from $561 million in 2021.

National Bank attributed the revenue growth to higher interest rates, with net interest income up by 64% year over year. Fee-based revenues, however, were down by 3% as declining markets led to a decrease in assets.

Assets under administration were down by 5% year over year to $616.2 billion; assets under management decreased by 4% to $112.4 billion.

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.”

Staff, with files from The Canadian Press

The Canadian Press is a national news agency headquartered in Toronto and founded in 1917.