TD Bank Financial Group on Thursday reported lower profits for the first quarter ended January 31. The bank said weakness in its wholesale banking unit offset gains by its retail operations.

First quarter operating profit was $480 million, or 70¢ a share. That compares with profit of c$528 million, or 78¢ a share, a year ago.

On a net basis, the bank earned $347 million for the quarter, or 50¢ a share, down from $378 million, or 55¢ last year.

Return on equity, on a cash basis, was 15.6% in the first quarter, down from 16.4% for the same quarter last year. On a reported basis, return on equity dipped to 11.1%, compared 11.5%.

Revenues rose to $1.4 billion from $1.2 billion.

Personal and commercial banking operations posted record earnings for the quarter, with cash earnings of $309 million, up 10% from last year.

“Overall, our performance for the first quarter marks a satisfactory improvement from where we left off at the end of fiscal 2002. It also confirms that we have earnings power,” said Ed Clark, TD Bank’s president and CEO.

The bank said first quarter loan losses were $112 million, down sharply from $325 million in the same quarter of the previous year.

As at January 31, 2003, the Bank’s Tier 1 capital ratio was 8.5% compared with 8.1% at October 31, 2002.