ATB Financial reported second quarter earnings of $93.9 million for the period ending Sept. 30, 2006, up $39.5 million since the same time last year.

Of the year-over-year increase, ATD said $24.3 million was attributed to a refinement in the methodology for establishing the level of general loan loss allowance, which resulted in a one-time reduction in the allowance this quarter.

“Following up on a strong first quarter with an outstanding second quarter is a testament to the strong Alberta economy, a full range of products and services to meet our customer needs, and a fully committed team of associates,” said Bob Normand, ATB president and CEO. “Even if we did not include the $24.3 million reserve release, it would still be a record second quarter result with $69.6 million net income.”

The Personal and Business Financial Services line of business continued to see strong growth across the board. Loan growth in the second quarter was $360.9 million compared to $340.5 million during the first quarter this year. Deposit growth was extremely strong at $606.4 million for the second quarter.

ATB Investor Services (ATBIS) saw strong growth during the quarter in assets under management and administration of $359.2 million. ATBIS second quarter results were up 35.84% from the same quarter last year in spite of industry sales being down by 36.99% (according to Investment Funds Institute of Canada) compared to last September.

Year over year, ATBIS has grown its assets under management and administration by $1.1 billion or 60.03% versus industry growth of 10.06%.