Adjusted earnings climb to $1.88 a share, topping analyst forecasts.

The Bank of Nova Scotia reported a third-quarter profit of $2.53 billion, up from $1.91 billion a year ago.

The bank says the profit amounted to $1.84 per diluted share for the quarter ended July 31, up from $1.41 per diluted share in the same period a year ago.

Revenue totalled $9.49 billion for the quarter, up from $8.36 billion in the same quarter last year.

Scotiabank’s provision for credit losses for the quarter amounted to $1.04 billion, down from $1.05 billion a year earlier.

On an adjusted basis, Scotiabank says it earned $1.88 per diluted share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.63 a year earlier.

The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of $1.73 per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.

“We reported improving revenue growth which helped drive another quarter of positive operating leverage and pushed our return on equity meaningfully higher compared to the prior year,” Scotiabank chief executive Scott Thomson said in a statement.

Scotiabank’s global wealth management business earned $417 million in net income attributable to equity holders, up from $367 million in the same quarter last year, while its global banking and markets business earned $473 million in net income attributable to equity holders, up from $368 million a year ago.

The bank’s wealth management arm had $407 billion in assets under management as of July 31, up 7% from the same quarter last year. Assets under administration totalled $754 billion, up 6% year over year. Both increases were attributed primarily to market appreciation and higher net sales.

Scotiabank said its Canadian banking business earned net income attributable to equity holders of $958 million compared with $977 million a year ago as it saw higher non-interest expenses and provisions for credit losses, partly offset by higher revenues.

The bank’s international banking division earned net income attributable to equity holders of $670 million, up from $629 million a year earlier.