MONTREAL — Laurentian Bank of Canada reported a second-quarter profit of $59.5 million, up from $53.1 million a year ago, its most profitable quarter since 2018.
The Montreal-based bank says its net income amounted to $1.34 per diluted share for the quarter ending April 30, up from $1.15 per diluted share in the same quarter a year earlier.
Revenue totalled $259.6 million for the quarter compared with $249.8 million for the second quarter of 2021, an increase of 4 per cent.
Laurentian says its provision for credit losses amounted to $13 million for the quarter compared with $2.4 million a year earlier as a result of "releases of allowances on performing loans recorded in fiscal 2021."
On an adjusted basis, Laurentian says it earned $1.39 per diluted share in its most recent quarter, up from an adjusted profit of $1.23 per diluted share a year earlier.
Analysts on average had expected earnings of $1.15 per share, according to financial markets data firm Refinitiv.
Laurentian chief executive Rania Llewellyn says strength in commercial banking and capital markets, combined with a focus on cost management, helped the bank in the second quarter.
Laurentian has also approved an increase of one cent on its common shares and declared a regular quarterly dividend of 45 cents per share on the common shares payable Aug. 1.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 1, 2022.
Companies in this story: (TSX:LB)
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