TORONTO - Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) reported third-quarter results which were ahead of expectations, driven by strong performances from its retail businesses in Canada and the United States.

Canada's second-biggest bank said on Thursday earnings per share rose to $1.46 per share in the quarter to June 30 from $1.24 a year ago. Earnings excluding one-off items rose to $1.51 from $1.27 a year ago. Analysts had on average expected earnings of $1.36 per share.

Net income rose to $2.8 billion from $2.4 billion a year ago, the bank said. Canadian retail net income rose by 14 per cent to $1.7 billion while U.S. retail net income also grew by 14 per cent to $901 million.

"TD's performance this quarter demonstrates the strength of our businesses in Canada and the U.S.," Chief Executive Bharat Masrani said in a statement.

Canada's five biggest banks, which also include Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO), Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO), Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) have all reported better-than-expected earnings in the latest quarter.

RBC analyst Darko Mihelic said TD's performance was the biggest earnings beat of any of the banks.

"We have a positive view on Q3 results as core EPS was well above our forecast, capital remained strong, and revenue, efficiency and credit all came in better relative to our expectations," he said.

TD also announced plans to buy back up to 35 million shares, equivalent to 1.9 per cent of its shares in issue, to return excess capital to shareholders.

The bank's core tier 1 ratio, a key measure of its financial strength stood at 11 per cent at the end of the quarter, up 20 basis points on the previous quarter.