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Laurentian Bank reports first-quarter revenue and profit up from year ago

By: The Canadian Press

Wednesday, Mar. 6, 2013 at 11:52 AM | Comments: 0

A patron enters a Laurentian Bank on March 20, 2012 in Montreal. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

MONTREAL - Laurentian Bank of Canada (TSX:LB) said Wednesday it earned $34.1 million in its latest quarter as acquisitions helped boost revenue from a year ago.

The bank said the profit amounted to $1.12 diluted per share in its first quarter, compared with $31.0 million or $1.16 diluted per share a year ago when the company had fewer shares outstanding.

Revenue totalled $213.9 million, up from $193.7 million.

"Last year's acquisitions of the MRS Companies and AGF Trust have helped maintain strong revenue growth over the last twelve months, while the excellent credit quality of the bank's loan portfolio and recovering financial markets also contributed to our good performance," Laurentian chief executive Rejean Robitaille said.

"With the integration of the MRS Companies nearly completed, our efforts now focus on the integration of the AGF Trust business in order to optimize the benefits for our clients as well as to fully realize the expected synergies of these two transactions."

Laurentian said provisions for loan losses for the quarter totalled $8 million, down from $10 million a year ago, despite an 18 per cent increase in the loan portfolio.

The quarter included a $3.2-million provision related to the AGF Trust loan portfolios and a net credit of $2.6 million in loan losses in the commercial loan portfolio.

Laurentian Bank shares were up 32 cents at $45.25 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Wednesday.

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