National Bank of Canada Quarterly Earnings Rise On Back of Broad Growth

By Robb M. Stewart

National Bank of Canada logged a jump in earnings in the latest quarter thanks to growth in each of its business segments and despite a rise in credit-loss provisions.

Net income rose for the third quarter to 1.31 billion Canadian dollars ($944.2 million), or C$3.25 a share, from C$1.07 billion, or C$2.58 a share, a year earlier.

Excluding items related to a pair of acquisitions that have expanded National Bank's footprint in Canada, adjusted earnings were up 26% at C$3.39 a share for the three months to July 31, ahead of the C$3.21 mean estimate of analysts polled by FactSet.

The bank's revenue increased to C$4.05 billion from C$3.45 billion last year, beating the C$3.87 billion expected by analysts.

Revenue for the lender's capital markets segment climbed 34% thanks to strong growth in global markets operations, while revenue in the personal and commercial segment rose 7% due to growth in loans and deposits. The bank saw an 18% increase in revenue in wealth management, which it said was mainly attributable to increases in fee-based revenues, notably revenues from investment management and trust service fees and mutual fund revenues.

The Montreal-based bank recorded a C$246 million provision for credit losses in the latest period, versus C$203 million a year earlier. Analysts were expecting about C$237 million to be set aside.

Canada's sixth-largest lender has moved to strengthen its position in Canada, including a deal in July to buy Truvera Trust that allows it to beef up in wealth management and the west of the country. This came after it moved to expand in Quebec in December with the purchase of the retail and small business operations of Laurentian Bank of Canada.

Early last year National bank completed the C$5.3 billion takeover of Canadian Western Bank, significantly extending its footprint in Alberta and British Columbia from what had largely been a focus on Quebec.

National Bank's common equity Tier 1 capital ratio stood at 13.5% at the end of the quarter, down from 13.8% at the end of last October but well above the at least 11% of total risk-weighted assets required of Canada's six biggest lenders by the country's banking regulator.

Write to Robb M. Stewart at robb.stewart@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 26, 2026 07:28 ET (11:28 GMT)