TORONTO -- Royal Bank of Canada (TSX:RY) reports that its 2015 profit was a record $10.03 billion, an 11 per cent increase from last year.
That included $2.59 billion in the fourth quarter ended Oct. 31, which was also up 11 per cent.
RBC's profit amounted to $1.74 per common share for the quarter -- above analyst estimates -- and $6.73 for the full year. Its quarterly dividend remains 79 cents per share, payable Feb. 24.
"We had record earnings of $10 billion in 2015, reflecting the strength of our diversified business model and our ability to execute our growth strategy in a changing environment," Dave McKay, RBC president and CEO, said in a statement.
Royal's fourth-quarter growth was largely driven by its capital markets operations, which increased its net income by 38 per cent or $153 million to $555 million.
Its corporate support arm also benefited from a favourable tax adjustment, which pushed up that segment's net income to $200 million from $126 million in the fourth quarter of 2014.
RBC's core personal and commercial banking operations accounted for half of this year's total third-quarter profit, including a relatively flat $1.23 billion from Canadian operations.
Royal's banking operations in the Caribbean and the United States turned profitable, compared with last year's losses, but profit declined in the bank's wealth management, insurance and treasury services operations.
Total revenue was $8.02 billion, which was down from $8.34 billion in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014 and from $8.83 billion from the third quarter of fiscal 2015.
Most of the revenue decline was at RBC's insurance arm and treasury services, offset by increases in other parts of its operations.
Royal is the third major Canadian bank to report double-digit growth in the final three months of their financial year, following Scotiabank (TSX:BNS) and Bank of Montreal (TSX:BMO) on Monday.
