National Bank keeps lid on dividendCharla Jones/The Globe and Mail
The National Bank of Canada isn't following the dividend-increasing example of country's large banks, even though the Quebec-based bank's profits grew by 13 per cent in the third quarter to $379-million.
The country's sixth-largest bank, which raised the quarterly payout three months ago, kept it steady at 79 cents per share, it said after markets closed.
Canada's five largest banks all increased their dividends over the past couple of days after earning $7.8-billion in cumulative profits.
National Bank said its net income attributable to shareholders increased to $360-million from $318-million.
Adjusting for one-time items it earned $353-million, up from $334-million in the prior year. The amount attributable to shareholders grew to $334-million from $316-million in the third quarter of 2011.
Adjusted net income for the period ended July 31 equalled $1.98 per diluted share, up from $1.86 a year earlier.
Revenue grew 11 per cent to $1.2-billion.
The bank was expected to earn $1.90 per share in adjusted profits on $1.25-billion of revenue, according to analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.