Analyst Note
| Eric Compton, CFA |Wide-moat rated Toronto Dominion reported decent fiscal fourth-quarter earnings. Adjusted earnings per share were CAD 1.60, beating S&P CapIQ consensus of CAD 1.28. Adjusted EPS were up 1% year over year as adjusted revenue increased 1%, adjusted expenses increased 3%, and provisioning retreated materially. There was a significant adjusting item during the quarter, a $2.3 billion after-tax gain on the bank’s investment in TD Ameritrade, largely due to a revaluation of the holding’s value after the Schwab acquisition. As a reminder, Charles Schwab has acquired TD Ameritrade and now Toronto Dominion (the bank) will have an ownership interest in Schwab and a renegotiated deposit sharing agreement with Schwab (with lower fees earned by TD on the sweep account balances compared with what was previously in place). The bank’s adjusted return on equity of 13.3% was right in the middle of peers. We don’t plan to make any material changes to our fair value estimate of CAD 79/USD 60 as we incorporate these results.