By: Justin Menza
Toronto Dominion Bank has been looking at potential deals, but hasn’t found anything it likes, CEO Ed Clark told CNBC’s Closing Bell Thursday.
'We have the strategic position as a North American bank to really compete with anybody, so you really only make acquisitions if it’s cheaper than building out your own branches', the head of Canada’s second-largest bank said.
'So far we haven’t found something we like', Clark added, noting that TD Bank has been building new branches in both the U.S. and Canada.
The bank also increased its dividend payout ratio, meaning dividends will grow faster than earnings. But Clark said that the higher dividend will not influence its decision on future acquisitions.
Earlier, TD reported a 14-percent increase in second-quarter earnings, as it posted profits of 1.7 billion Canadian dollars ($1.72 billion), compared with C$1.5 billion a year earlier. Earnings per share were $1.78, compared with $1.58 a year earlier.
(Read More: The World’s Safest Banks 2012.)
'We had strong growth across all our businesses', Clark said of the record results. But he cautioned that there are plenty of challenges facing the bank through the end of this year and into next.
'I think there’s an overhang of worry that the growth rates are going to slow in Canada', he said. There’s also concern about what persistently low interest rates will mean for the business.
TD Bank expects to deliver adjusted earnings-per-share growth at the low end of the 7 to 10 percent range for the year, in line with its forecasts at the start of the year.
But Clark noted that the company came into the year expecting to 'work hard' to get to that range.
'For next year, we’re going to have to work hard again', he said.
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