RBC saw its overall earnings grow by 20% annually in Q4, reaching $3.9 billion largely due to lower provisions for credit losses. Pre-provision, pre-tax earnings of $4.8 billion also went up by 4% from the prior year.
The major contributors to the bank’s growth were higher earnings in its personal and commercial banking arms (up 54%).
“Solid earnings growth in investor and treasury services, insurance, and wealth management also contributed to the increase,” RBC said. “Our results this year included releases of provisions on performing loans of $1.4 billion, primarily driven by improvements in our macroeconomic and credit quality outlook. In comparison, the prior year reflected elevated provisions on performing loans of $2.6 billion due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.”