CIBC hikes dividend after posting 42% profit increase

CIBC says its net income in the quarter ending July 31 was $841 million, compared with net income of $591 million for the same period last year.

Diluted earnings per share in the quarter were $2, compared with $1.33 a year ago.

CIBC says its revenue was $3.15 billion in the quarter, up two per cent from the third quarter of 2011, primarily due to volume growth across most products and higher fees, partially offset by narrower spreads.

The bank also announced a quarterly dividend increase of four cents or 4.4 per cent per share on common shares for the quarter ending Oct. 31, 2012. CIBC also said it intends to buy for cancellation up to a maximum of 8.1 million or approximately two per cent of its outstanding common shares.

After adjusting for one-time items, CIBC said diluted earnings were $2.06 per share compared with adjusted diluted earnings per share of $1.93 from the same period last year.

On average, analysts were expecting the bank to report earnings per share of $1.96, according to a poll by Thomson Reuters. Revenue was anticipated to be $3.17 billion.

In its second-quarter outlook for 2012, the bank warned that its retail and business banking operations could face "slightly slower growth in demand for mortgages, while consumer credit demand could continue to see limited growth."

CIBC has been tightening expenses.

During the quarter, it bought MFS McLean Budden, which has a $1.4-billion portfolio of high net worth clients, from Sun Life Financial.

Also in the quarter, CIBC said it would wind up operations at its FirstLine Mortgage business after it failed to find an acceptable buyer. It had tried since March to shop around its FirstLine mortgage-broker unit.

The bank will stop selling new mortgages through the division as it moves to exit the business in favour of selling CIBC-branded mortgages, which have better margins.

CIBC has more than 42,000 employees across its operations, including retail and wholesale banking and financial services, serving more than 11 million customers.