The bank, which has a sizeable deposit base that gives it access to cheaper funding, has benefited more than some other institutions from rising interest rates.

TD saw margin growth and average loan growth of 9.5% and 11% year-over-year in both Canadian and US banking, respectively, which helped boost earnings.

“We had record retail and commercial banking revenues in Canada and a record retail banking quarter in the United States,” Chief Financial Officer Kelvin Tran said in an interview.

The bank also continued to invest in growing its deposits and customer base, with spending up 10% year-on-year in the quarter, including staff costs, despite fears of an impending downturn.

“We saw this as an important opportunity for us to make strategic investments in our people,” added Mr. Tran. We use more bankers, more advisors to help our clients because it’s a very difficult environment and we want to be there for them. »

He emphasized that the bank remains vigilant and able to respond to changing economic conditions if necessary, but is always focused on growth.

One of the biggest sources of growth for the bank will be the $13.4 billion acquisition of First Horizon Bank in the United States in fiscal 2023, rather than in the first quarter as announced.

Mr. Tran reiterated that the timing of regulatory approvals is not under his control.

“We continue to work to complete the transaction, we are working very hard on it and we are making progress,” he said.

Financial moves in anticipation of the acquisition, including hedging against interest rate fluctuations and selling certain Charles Schwab Corp stock to fund the transaction, resulted in significant earnings growth for the quarter to $6.67 billion from $3.78 billion for the same quarter last quarter Year.

Earnings adjusted for takeover readiness were $4.07 billion, or $2.18 per share, up 5% from $3.87 billion, or $2.04 per share, a year earlier.

Analysts on average had expected earnings of $2.06 per share, according to estimates by financial markets data firm Refinitiv.

The discrepancy came despite higher-than-expected loan loss provisions, which totaled 617 million in the most recent quarter, compared with a 123 million loan loss recovery in the same quarter last year, Barclays analyst John Aiken said in a note.

“TD not only exceeded expectations, but managed to win with higher than expected commissions,” he noted. TD had strong performances both in its retail stores and on both sides of the border. »

Revenue was 15.56 billion compared to 10.94 billion a year ago.

TD said its personal and commercial banking services in Canada brought in $1.69 billion last quarter, up from $1.53 billion in the same quarter last year.

TD’s US retail banking business, which includes its investment in Charles Schwab Corp. owned, brought in $1.54 billion, compared to $1.37 billion a year earlier.

Meanwhile, TD’s wealth management and insurance business generated $516 million compared to $608 million in the year-ago quarter and its wholesale banking business generated $261 million compared to $420 million in the fourth quarter last year.

TD’s corporate segment posted a profit of 2.66 billion, compared with a loss of 150 million a year ago, as it posted a gain related to its acquisition of First Horizon and a surge in Schwab’s shares during its most recent quarter.

For the full year, TD reported earnings of $17.43 billion, or $9.47 per share, on sales of $49.03 billion, compared to earnings of $14.30 billion, or 7 $.72 per share on revenue of $42.69 billion last year.

Companies in this story: (TSX:TD)