TD Bank raises dividend, but Q1 profit falls short of expectations

Photo: The Canadian Press

TD Bank Group raised its dividend but fell short of expectations as it reported a first-quarter profit of $3 billion, up from $2.4 billion in the same quarter last year.

The bank says it will now pay a quarterly dividend of 79 cents per share, up from its previous payment of 74 cents per quarter.

The increased payment to shareholders came as TD says it earned $1.61 per diluted share for the quarter ended Jan. 31.

That compared with $1.27 per diluted share in the same quarter a year earlier.

On an adjusted basis, TD says it earned $1.66 per diluted share for the quarter, compared with an adjusted profit of $1.57 per diluted share in the first quarter of 2019.

Analysts on average had expected an adjusted profit of $1.69 per diluted share, according to financial markets data firm Refinitiv.