Narrow lending margins and weak trading revenues in the third quarter pressured National Bank of Canada's (NA.TO) shares on Thursday, even as it reported strong loan volumes that allowed it to meet profit forecasts. Montreal-based National Bank earned C$312 million, or C$1.84 a share, in its third quarter ended July 31, up 15 percent from C$271 million, or C$1.56, in the year-before quarter. Excluding one-time items, National earned C$1.72 a share, just ahead of analysts' expectations of a profit of C$1.71 a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. "A little bit troubling is the softness in the net interest income line and the trading line versus what we had been expecting and versus what they did last quarter," said Robert Sedran of CIBC World Markets.
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