Royal Bank of Canada had $2.895 billion of net income in its third quarter, up 17 per cent from a year ago — in part because of the sale of an insurance business.

The bank had a profit of $2.475 billion during the same quarter last year.

The earnings amounted to $1.88 per share, up from $1.66 during the same quarter in 2015.

Excluding an after-tax gain of $235 million from the sale of RBC General Insurance, RBC's net income would have been $2.66 billion, or $1.72 per share, up seven per cent from a year ago.

RBC had total revenue of $10.26 billion during the quarter ended July 31, compared with $8.83 billion during the same period last year.

The bank also announced it's raising its quarterly dividend by two cents to 83 cents per share.