RBC First-Quarter Profit Rises 12% on Investment-Banking Fees

Feb. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Royal Bank of Canada, the country’s largest lender by assets, said first-quarter profit rose 12 percent on higher fees from investment banking and record earnings from consumer lending.

Net income for the period ended Jan. 31 was C$2.07 billion ($2.02 billion), or C$1.36 a share, compared with C$1.86 billion, or C$1.22, a year earlier, the Toronto-based lender said today in a statement.

Royal Bank benefited from a 25 percent profit gain from its RBC Capital Markets investment-banking business, and posted record earnings in consumer and business banking and wealth management. The bank raised its quarterly dividend 5 percent to 63 cents a share, its first increase since August.

Profit excluding some items was C$1.38 a share, beating the C$1.32 a share average estimate of 16 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.

--Editors: David Scanlan, Steve Dickson