Royal Bank posts fourth-quarter profit of $1.95 billion

On average, 13 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report profit per share of C$1.16 for the quarter.

Earnings at the bank’s personal and commercial banking segment gained 10 percent to C$1.27 billion, while profit at its capital markets division rose 38 percent to C$555 million for the quarter.

Royal’s banking operations in the Caribbean and the United States turned profitable, compared with last year’s losses, but profit declined in the bank’s wealth management, insurance and treasury services operations.

National Bank says its fourth-quarter profit rose five per cent to $347 million, taking the full-year net income for 2015 to $1.62 billion.

The bank, based in Toronto, said it had earnings of $1.32 per share. That was up from earnings of C$2.33 billion, or C$1.57 a share, a year earlier. Its quarterly dividend remains 79 cents per share, payable February 24.

Record fiscal 2015 earnings of just over C$10 billion reflect “the strength of our diversified business model and our ability to execute our growth strategy in a changing environment”, Chief Executive Dave McKay said in a release.

Royal Bank is the third Canadian lender to report fourth-quarter results, following Bank of Nova Scotia and Bank of Montreal.