<div id="subtitle">TD Bank Financial Group posts flat 4th-qtr profit as investing unit offsets US retail slide</div><div><p>TD Bank Financial Group, a Toronto-based company that operates in the U.S. and Canada, on Thursday posted flat fiscal fourth-quarter profit, as gains in its wholesale banking unit and its Canadian operations offset declines in its U.S. retail bank and a hike in the money it set aside to cover bad loans.</p><p>For the quarter ended Oct. 31, the bank earned $1.01 billion Canadian dollars ($941.8 million) or $1.12 Canadian cents per share ($1.04) down from $1.01 billion Canadian or $1.22 Canadian per share last year.</p><p>Adjusted for investment losses, restructuring and integration charges related to the acquisition of Commerce Bank, and other items, the bank earned $1.3 billion Canadian ($1.22 billion) or $1.46 Canadian cents per share ($1.36).</p><p>Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to post profit of $1.30 per share for the quarter. Analysts typically exclude one-time gains and losses from their estimates.</p><p>Net interest income, or money earned from deposits, rose 15 percent to $2.83 billion Canadian ($2.63 billion) from $2.45 billion Canadian last year. Non-interest income, or money earned from fees and charges, jumped 59 percent, to $1.89 billion Canadian ($1.77 billion), from $1.19 billion Canadian in the 2008 fourth quarter.</p><p>TD Bank increased its provision for credit losses, or money set aside to cover souring loans, by 81 percent to $521 million Canadian ($485.8 million) from $288 million Canadian in the year-ago quarter.</p><p>Profit in the U.S. personal and commercial banking unit slid 24 percent, excluding restructuring and integration charges, due to higher loan losses, the company said. The integration of Commerce and TD Banknorth was completed in the period.</p><p>Profit slipped 8 percent in its wealth management unit, which includes the parent company's equity share in online broker TD Ameritrade.</p><p>Offsetting those declines, earnings in its Canadian personal and commercial banking unit rose 4 percent.</p><p>And its wholesale banking unit reversed a substantial year-ago loss to post record net income of $372 million Canadian ($346.9 million.) The unit derives its profit from capital markets, corporate lending and investing activities.</p><p>For the year, TD Bank reported profit of $3.12 billion Canadian ($2.91 billion) or $3.47 Canadian cents per share ($3.24), down from $3.83 billion Canadian, or $4.88 Canadian cents per share, last year. Adjusted profit for 2009 came to $4.72 billion Canadian ($4.4 billion), or $5.35 Canadian cents per share ($4.99.)</p><p>In afternoon trading, TD Bank shares fell $1.27 to $63.19.</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=64684960&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>

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