Canaccord Capital Inc. today said strong North American capital markets helped it to deliver a record profit for the second quarter ended Sept. 30, 2005.

Net income for the quarter was $15.7 million, up $9.6 million from $6.1 million the same period a year ago. Diluted earnings per share for the quarter were 34¢, from 13¢ for the same period a year ago.

Revenue was $118.7 million, up $33.1 million compared to $85.6 million the same period a year ago.

“This past quarter, we successfully leveraged a robust North American capital markets environment to generate record revenue,” said Peter Brown, chairman and CEO, in a release.

Expenses were $94.4 million during the quarter, up 25.3%, or $19.1 million, from $75.3 million a year ago.

Total compensation payout as a percentage of revenue was 58.1%, down from 62.1% in the second quarter of fiscal 2005.

Return on equity was 27.8%, up from a ROE of 12.2% a year ago.