TD tops expectations, says anti-money-laundering overhaul is 'well underway'
Toronto-Dominion Bank beat analysts’ estimates on strong performance in its capital-markets division and the company said that a “comprehensive overhaul” of its United States anti-money-laundering program is “well underway.”
Canada’s second-largest lender earned $2.04 a share on an adjusted basis in the fiscal second quarter, it said in a statement Thursday, topping the $1.85 average estimate of analysts in a Bloomberg survey. Toronto-Dominion’s capital-markets unit reported that net income more than doubled to $441 million on an adjusted basis, reflecting higher trading-related and lending revenue and increased underwriting fees.
Still, the bank’s provisions for credit losses totalled $1.07 billion in the three months through April, more than the roughly $1 billion analysts had forecast.
North American consumers are increasingly struggling to make credit-card payments, and the bank’s Canadian homeowners are struggling with rising mortgage costs as interest rates remain elevated. Business bankruptcies are also increasing in Toronto-Dominion’s home market.
Overshadowing its financial results, Toronto-Dominion faces multiple U.S. law enforcement and regulatory investigations into laundering of funds tied to illegal drug sales. The bank said last month it has set aside US$450 million in relation to one of three regulatory probes on the issue, and it’s been investing heavily to improve its internal controls, driving up expenses.
The lender’s net income totalled $2.56 billion, slightly less than the average estimate of $2.58 billion, as a result of loan-loss provisions and higher expenses, including costs tied to the anti-money-laundering probes.
The bank scrapped its proposed US$13.4 billion acquisition of Memphis-based
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