Laurentian Bank of Canada is reporting improved earnings for the first quarter ended January 31.

The bank said net income for the first quarter was $24.9 million, or 90¢, up from $22.6 million, or 84¢ a share, a year ago.

Earnings per share were 3.2% below a 94¢ per share forecast by analysts polled by Thomson Financial/First Call.

Laurentian said revenues rose slightly to $161.3 million from $160.3 million in the year-ago period.

Commenting on the results, Henri-Paul Rousseau, president and CEO said: “The bank is pleased to report good financial results and stronger capital ratios for the quarter. Retail Banking continued to implement the SAVA II program, its customer-centric initiative, and to better equip its personal bankers with market focused products and services, essential in this particularly competitive environment.”

Rousseau added that the Commercial Banking unit continued to be profitable but at much slower pace of growth. He said that B2B Trust showed accelerating loan growth.

The Bank reported the results of its Wealth Management and Brokerage business separately for the first time. This segment includes the activities of BLC-Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management and Laurentian Bank Securities .

The sector reported a loss of $0.1 million in the first quarter of 2002 compared to a loss of $1.1 million in the same period in 2001. LBS reported improved results in 2002 and BLC-EdR improved its contribution as a result of the merger of the IRIS and R families of mutual funds.