TD Ameritrade Profit Rises 5.5% on Higher Net New Assets

TD Ameritrade Holding Corp (NYSE:AMTD), the biggest U.S. discount broker as measured by client trades, said its quarterly profit rose 5.5 percent as it reported a jump in net new assets.

The company, 40.7 percent owned by Canada's Toronto-Dominion Bank, said net new assets rose 32.7 percent to $13.4 billion in the fourth quarter from a year earlier.

"With improved investor sentiment, retail investors returned to the markets in 2014, increasing engagement across our platforms and boosting trading volumes," Chief Executive Fred Tomczyk said in a statement on Tuesday.

TD Ameritrade's net income rose to $211 million, or 38 cents per share, for the fourth quarter ended Sept. 30, from $200 million, or 36 cents per share a year earlier.

The company's profit beat the average analyst estimate of 36 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Net revenue rose 12 percent to $795 million.

However, TD Ameritrade forecast earnings of $1.45 cents to $1.70 cents per share for full-year 2015, largely below analysts' average estimate of $1.61 per share.

Daily average client trades rose to 402,638 in the quarter from 381,657 in the same quarter last year.

The company increased its quarterly dividend to 15 cents per share from 12.

The company's shares closed at $31.31 on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday. Up to Monday's close, the stock had gained about 2 percent this year.

(Reporting by Amrutha Gayathri in Bangalore; Editing by Ted Kerr and Simon Jennings)