CONTINUING THE TREND

National Bank reports an 8-per-cent jump in total revenue to $1.68B, net income to $518M,

MONTREAL— National Bank of Canada is reporting $518 million of net income for its third quarter, up 8 per cent from last year and ahead of analyst estimates.

The Montreal-based company’s total revenue was also up 8 per cent at $1.68 billion.

“For the third quarter of 2017, the bank posted excellent results owing to solid performance across all its business segments,” National Bank CEO Louis Vachon said Wednesday in a statement.

The profit was equal to $1.37 per common share of net income, or $1.39 per share after excluding certain items.

Analyst John Aiken of Barclay’s Capital writes in a note that the adjusted earnings were in line with his estimates, but above the consensus of $1.32 per share.

He added that there may be some skepticism about a rise in the average loan size at Credigy, a specialty finance subsidiary of Credigy Ltd. that operates exclusively outside Canada.

“That said, (National’s) domestic operations are benefiting from its exposure to the Quebec economy and we would expect the performance in its retail banking platform to be repeatable in the near term,” Aiken wrote.

Net income at National’s personal and commercial banking arm rose 21 per cent from last year to $240 million, while net income from wealth management was up 31 per cent at $106 million.

National Bank continues a trend that began last week when Royal Bank and CIBC began the industry’s third-quarter earnings season. They were followed by strong results issued by Scotiabank and Bank of Montreal on Tuesday.