Royal Bank of Canada
Q2 2022 Earnings Call
May 26, 2022, 8:30 a.m. ET
Contents:
- Prepared Remarks
- Questions and Answers
- Call Participants
Prepared Remarks:
Operator
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to RBC's conference call for the second quarter 2022 financial results. Please be advised that the call is being recorded. I would now like to turn the meeting over to Asim Imran, head of investor relations. Please go ahead, Mr.
Imran.
Asim Imran -- Head of Investor Relations
Thank you, and good morning, everyone. Speaking today will be Dave McKay, president and chief executive officer; Nadine Ahn, chief financial officer; and Graeme Hepworth, chief risk officer. Also joining us today for your questions, Neil McLaughlin, group head, personal and commercial banking; Doug Guzman, group head, wealth management, insurance, and I&TS and Derek Neldner, group head, capital markets. As noted on Slide 1, our comments may contain forward-looking statements, which involve assumptions and have inherent risks and uncertainties.
Actual results could differ materially. I would also remind listeners that the bank assesses its performance on a reported and adjusted basis and considers, both to be useful in assessing underlying business performance. [Operator instructions] With that, I'll turn it over to Dave.
Dave McKay -- President and Chief Executive Officer
Thank you, Asim, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us today. Today, we reported earnings of $4.3 billion with earnings per share -- excuse me, up 7% from last year. Revenues were modestly lower year over year, largely due to moderating capital markets revenues, given unfavorable market conditions.
This was partly offset by strong client-driven volume growth in Canadian banking and City National and solid wealth management client activity. Expense growth was only 1%. Before I share context on our earnings this quarter, I want to acknowledge the increasingly complex macro and geopolitical environment. As Russia's invasion of Ukraine drives on with devastating effects, we continue to stand with the people of Ukraine and consistent with our purpose of supporting the humanitarian effort, relief efforts in the region as well as the Ukrainian diaspora in Canada.
From a macro perspective, while I noted last quarter that we were closer to the mid-cycle economic growth, the ongoing impact of Russia's invasion has added further complexity to existing challenges from elevated inflation, a rapid tightening of monetary policy, supply chain disruptions and shortages in energy, labor and housing supply. Central Bank actions are having a profound impact on both bond and equity markets and, in turn, impacting capital markets activity. Central banks are facing increasingly difficult decisions in how to manage monetary policy to constrain inflation without impacting economic growth. Given low unemployment, rising wages and elevated liquidity, we believe the key ingredients are in place to help mitigate any sustained slowdown.