Bank of Nova Scotia today reported a 15% increase in fourth-quarter profit, and raised its dividend.

Net income rose to $811 million, or 80¢ a share, in the quarter ended October 31, up from $705 million, or 69¢ a share, a year ago.

The bank said the increase was driven by improved credit quality and retail asset growth, partly offset by lower interest margins in Canada and the negative impact of foreign currency translation.

“Our strategy of diversifying across three business lines — domestic banking, Scotia capital, and international banking — combined with improvements in credit quality underpinned our strong results this year,” Rick Waugh, Scotiabank’s president and chief executive, said in a news release.

Revenue rose to $2.7 billion from $2.5 billion.

Loan loss provisions, money set aside for bad loans, edged lower to $36 million in the quarter from $40 million in the year-before period.

Return on equity, a key measure of profitability, climbed to 20.5% from 18.8%.

Scotiabank also increased the quarterly dividend on its common shares by 2¢, or 6%, to 36¢ a common share.