Royal Bank of Canada [RY on TSX and NYSE] on Friday reported Q1 earnings of more than $3 billion [$3,027 million] for the first time, beating market forecasts, and benefiting from a strong performance at all its businesses.

by BNN.ca

Canada's biggest bank said [all amounts are in Canadian dollars]:

• net income for the first quarter to Jan. 31 rose by 24% to $3.03 billion,
• earnings per share increased to $1.97 from $1.58 a year earlier, exceeding analysts' forecasts of $1.77,
• net income at the bank's personal & commercial business rose by 23% to $1.59 billion,
• the capital markets division had a 16% increase to $662 million,
• and said it was increasing it quarterly dividend by 5% to $0.87 Canadian per share.

...Shares of in RBC, which has a substantial business in the United States, have risen by nearly 20% since Donald Trump's election as U.S. president in November. The stock has benefited from expectations the new administration will introduce softer banking regulations and a lower corporate tax rate and that pro-growth policies will lead to higher interest rates.

([Incidentally, as reported here on TalkMarkets yesterday,] smaller rival Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO)(CM) reported higher-than-expected earnings on Thursday, but uncertainty over a planned U.S. acquisition overshadowed its performance.)

At current share prices, RBC is North America's fifth most-valued bank, with a market capitalization of $147 billion.