CORRECTED-Bank of Montreal profit rises on wholesale banking

(Corrects analysts' expectations to C$1.43 a share)

Dec 4 (Reuters) - Bank of Montreal's fourth-quarter profit rose 41 percent, topping estimates, as a sharp jump in wholesale banking income more than offset a weaker performance from its U.S. lending unit, the bank said on Tuesday.

The company, Canada's fourth-largest bank and also a major presence in the U.S. Midwest, earned C$1.1 billion ($1.11 billion), or C$1.59 a share. That compared with a year-before profit of C$768 million, or C$1.11 a share.

On an adjusted basis, the bank earned C$1.65 a share. Analysts had expected a profit of C$1.43 a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

($1 = 0.9937 Canadian dollars) (Reporting By Cameron French; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick)