TORONTO -- While volatile market conditions have dampened Canadian lenders' latest results, the Bank of Montreal's first-quarter profit still blew past expectations on strength in the U.S. as the Bank of Nova Scotia's earnings fell short despite a surge in international lending.

BMO delivered adjusted net income of $1.54 billion for the period, up eight per cent from a year earlier, despite a drop in profits from its wealth management and capital markets divisions reflecting market uncertainty in late 2018 amid U.S.-China trade tensions and other geopolitical concerns.

The Toronto-based lender's North American personal and commercial banking businesses performed "very well," particularly in the U.S. which saw a 43 per cent profit increase year-over-year, BMO chief executive Darryl White said Tuesday.

"Performance for this quarter played out well... Our diverse business mix across geographies, products and customers continues to produce sustainable earnings power, even as the environment in which we operate evolves," he told a conference call with financial analysts.

Meanwhile, Scotiabank's net income during the three-month period ended Jan. 31 slipped to $2.25 billion from $2.34 billion a year earlier.

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Canada's third-largest lender, which has been seeking growth by expanding its footprint in the Pacific Alliance countries of Mexico, Chile, Colombia and Peru, saw a 17 per cent increase in international banking earnings to $782 million during the quarter ended Jan. 31. However, Scotiabank's global banking and markets business saw a 26 per cent drop in net income attributable to equity holders to $335 million.

"Capital markets volatility was challenging for the industry in both Canada and the U.S. and this directly impacted our origination and secondary trading businesses within our global banking and markets business," said Scotiabank's chief executive Brian Porter on a call with analysts.

"Despite these conditions, we delivered strong corporate loan growth in the quarter and better results overall in January support our outlook for stronger results over the remainder of the year."

BMO and Scotiabank's earnings come after Royal Bank of Canada reported a five per cent uptick in first-quarter profit last week in line with expectations despite weaker contributions from its wealth management and investor and treasury services businesses.