Canadian Western Bank today announced record quarterly earnings and revenues for the three months ended April 30.

Second quarter net income of $22.2 million and diluted earnings per share of 35¢ were up 33% and 35% respectively over last year.

The banks says earnings were driven by excellent loan growth of 7% in the quarter and 28% over the past 12 months.

The board of directors today declared a quarterly dividend of 9¢ per common share. This quarterly dividend represents a 13% increase over the previous quarterly dividend and is 50% higher than the quarterly dividend declared one year ago.

“The bank’s loan growth continued to be the story in the second quarter, pushing total assets to more than $8 billion. Our growing asset base not only confirms the ongoing opportunities in our markets, it allows us to capitalize on economies of scale,” said Larry Pollock, president and CEO, in a release. “Strong banking and trust earnings along with Canadian Direct’s recovery in the quarter provide an excellent picture of the combined strength of our businesses,” added Pollock.

Both operating segments performed very well in the quarter. Quarterly net income from banking and trust operations was $19.6 million, up 29% over last year on very strong growth in both total loans and other income. The earnings contribution from insurance operations increased 71% over the same quarter last year to $2.7 million. Insurance results showed a strong recovery over the first quarter of 2007 which was impacted by severe weather in British Columbia.