In its latest financial report, Royal Bank of Canada said it will focus on bolstering its digital capbilities in the coming year.

Royal Bank of Canada's wealth management arm logged a C$127 million ($96.9 million) rise in net income in the first quarter of 2017, up 42 per cent year-on-year, propelled by volume growth, increased transaction revenue and a swell in average fee-based client assets.

Compared with the forth quarter of last year, net income was up C$34 million, or 9 per cent, which reflected higher net interest income on volume growth and increased annual performance fees, RBC said in a statement.  

Assets under management at the Toronto-and Montreal-based firm increased by a modest 4.06 per cent YOY, totalling C$578.6 billion. However, this figure dipped from previous quarter, when the bank logged AuM of C$580.7 billion.

Total revenues at RBC Wealth Management weighed in at C$2.431 billion, a healthy growth of 16.4 per cent YOY and a 6.3 per cent rise from the previous quarter. 

RBC group as a whole reported a net income of C$3.027 billion for the quarter ended January 31 2017, up C$580 million, or 24 per cent, YOY.

“As the operating landscape evolves, we are focused on out strategy of building a digitally-enabled relationship bank to meet the changing expectations of our clients,” said Dave McKay, RBC president and chief executive.