CIBC profit jumps in Q3

CIBC says its profit rose to $640 million in the fiscal third quarter.

The Canadian bank says that compares to a profit of $434 million reported at the same time last year.

CIBC had $1.53 per share of net income, comparedto $1.02 per share in the comparable 2009 period.

"The investments we are making in our retail and wholesale businesses are furthering our strength in Canada and positioning us well for the future," president and CEO Gerry McCaughey said.

"Given the uncertainty related to the economic recovery and the regulatory environment, we will continue to grow our businesses cautiously while maintaining balance sheet strength and expense discipline."

Cashearnings per sharewere $1.55, comparedto $1.04 a year earlier. Revenue held steady at $2.85 billion versus $2.86 billion.

The bank's provisions for credit losses fell 60 per cent to $221 million.

CIBC has more than 41,000 employees across its operations including its retail markets, wholesale banking and financial services divisions, which serve more than 11 million individual, small business, commercial and corporate customers.

In June, the bank signed a deal to buy a $2.1-billion credit card portfolio from Citigroup's Canadian MasterCard business, a transaction which makes CIBC Canada's largest issuer of Visa and MasterCard credit cards.