National Bank of Canada is reporting record earnings for the first quarter ended January 31.

The bank said net income before goodwill for the first quarter was $146 million, or 73 ¢, up from $142 million, or 71¢, in the same period last year. That’s a 6% rise in first-quarter profit.

That exceeded expectations of 67¢ a share by analysts polled by Thomson Financial/First Call.

The bank said revenues were $805 million, up from $762 million.

Return on equity before goodwill fell to 15% from 16.1%.

The bank also announced a 3¢ dividend increase that brings the quarterly payment to shareholders to 24¢ a share.

Andre Berard, chairman and CEO expressed his satisfaction with the latest results. He singled out the record earnings in the first quarter and the sizeable decline in impaired loans.