Royal Bank said today that its fourth-quarter profit fell 31% after the bank took significant charges for a business realignment that saw 1,660 job cuts and for its struggling U.S. mortgage unit.

Net income for the quarter ended Ocober 31 was $518 million, or 78¢ a share, down from $746 million, or $1.11 a share, last year.

During the fourth quarter, the bank took two separate charges: a $125 million after-tax hit for the business realignment, and a $130 million charge on the impairment of goodwill at RBC Mortgage.

Most of the business realignment charge was related to the staff reductions.

The cuts came largely from head office and support staff as positions were eliminated with RBC realigning to three business units from five and shuffling key executive posts.

“We took strong action this quarter to become more efficient and achieve higher revenue growth,” chief executive Gord Nixon said in a release.

Total revenue rose to $4.6 billion from $4.4 billion. Return on equity fell to 11.3% in the quarter from 16.5% last year.

RBC set aside $97 million in the quarter for bad loans, down from $140 million.

Despite the decline, Royal Bank said on will raise its dividend by 3¢ a common share to 55¢.