National Bank’s CWB deal powers earnings surge as RBC posts record first‑quarter profit momentum
National Bank of Canada and Royal Bank of Canada both beat profit expectations in their latest quarters, with strong contributions from personal and commercial banking and capital markets, and stepped-up capital return at National Bank.
According to Bloomberg, National Bank posted adjusted profit of $1.32bn, or $3.25 per share, for the three months through January, up from $1.05bn, or $2.93 per share, a year earlier.
This exceeded the $2.95 per-share forecast in its analyst survey, while Reuters reported that the result was also above the $2.99 per share expected by analysts polled by LSEG.
National Bank’s personal and commercial banking unit drove much of the growth.
Net income in that segment jumped 47 percent year over year to $427m, with revenue up 27 percent following the acquisition of Canadian Western Bank.
Bloomberg said the acquisition contributed double-digit revenue gains in the unit and noted that National Bank closed the Canadian Western Bank deal last February.
Capital markets and wealth management added further momentum.
The capital markets segment posted net income of $443m, up 6 percent from a year earlier and ahead of the $411m analysts had predicted.
Reuters reported that profit in the wealth management unit increased 12 percent to $272m.
Bloomberg said National Bank set aside $244m in provisions for credit losses during the quarter, in line with the $245m expected by analysts it surveyed.
National Bank’s chief executive Laurent Ferreira described the opening quarter in a statement as “a strong start to the year for the bank, driven by our diversified and complementary franchises, as well as our prudent approach to capital and credit.”
Alongside the earnings, National Bank moved to increase buybacks.
In a statement, the bank said its board had authorized an amendment to its normal course issuer bid, subject to approval by the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions and the Toronto Stock Exchange.
The amendment would raise the maximum number of common shares that may be repurchased for cancellation under the current program to 14,500,000, representing 3.70 percent of the 392,169,565 common shares outstanding as of 11 September 2025.
The existing bid, launched on 25 September 2025, allows purchases of up to 8,000,000 shares, or about 2.04 percent of the same share count.
National Bank said it expects the amendment to take effect on or about 12 March 2026 and that the program will still expire on 24 September 2026, with all other terms unchanged.
The bank said all repurchased shares will be cancelled, that purchases will be made on the Toronto Stock Exchange and other Canadian alternative trading systems at prevailing market prices, and that the normal course issuer bid provides it with additional flexibility in managing its capital.
National Bank is also reshaping its retail footprint.
Bloomberg reported that in December, the bank agreed to acquire Laurentian Bank of Canada’s retail banking and small-business assets and liabilities, after Laurentian reached a deal to sell the rest of its business to Fairstone Bank.
RBC’s results added to the picture of broad-based strength at the largest banks.
BNN Bloomberg reported that Royal Bank of Canada earned net income of $5.79bn, or $4.03 per diluted share, for the quarter ended 31 January, up from $5.13bn, or $3.54 per diluted share, a year earlier.
Revenue rose to $17.96bn from $16.74bn.
On an adjusted basis, RBC earned $4.08 per diluted share, up from $3.62 per diluted share a year ago and above the $3.85 average analyst estimate from LSEG Data & Analytics.
Bloomberg said the adjusted $4.08 per share topped its own analyst average of $3.84 and reported that RBC’s adjusted return on equity reached 17.8 percent, above its 17 percent or better target.
Across segments, BNN Bloomberg reported that RBC’s personal banking business earned $1.96bn, up from $1.68bn, while commercial banking profit rose to $863m from $777m.
Wealth management earned $1.30bn, up from $980m, and the capital markets business earned $1.48bn, up from $1.43bn, while insurance earnings fell to $213m from $272m.
RBC’s provision for credit losses increased to $1.09bn from $1.05bn a year earlier and was slightly above the $1.07bn analysts had forecast, according to Bloomberg.
RBC chief executive Dave McKay said the bank entered the 2026 financial year “in a position of strength” and “carried this momentum into our first quarter, reporting record results underpinned by strong earnings growth, our robust balance sheet and capital position,” BNN Bloomberg reported.
Bloomberg noted that RBC became the first Canadian bank to earn more than $20bn in a single fiscal year in 2025 and cited McKay as saying the bank’s scale gives it an edge in capital markets, pricing flexibility in retail banking and a data advantage to support artificial-intelligence tools.
