Big Investment Banks Had Surprisingly Solid Quarter

Royal Bank of Canada, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and Toronto-Dominion Bank reported first-quarter profits that topped analysts’ estimates on record earnings from personal and commercial lending. Royal Bank, Canada’s largest lender by assets, said net income for the period ended Jan. 31 rose 12% to $2.07-billion, or $1.36 a share. CIBC, the fifth-biggest bank, said profit fell 4.4% to $798-million, while Toronto-Dominion, the No. 2 bank, said profit climbed 21% to $1.79-billion, or $1.86 a share.

Bank executives have been warning for more than a year of a slowdown in consumer lending, but there was little indication of any let-up in blowout first-quarter results released on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada, Toronto-Dominion Bank and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce all posted profits that beat analyst estimates as their main operations — especially domestic retail lending — delivered strong results, effectively dispelling concerns, at least for now, that the country’s big banks are heading into a storm.

Royal Bank of Canada and National Bank of Canada led the 7.5% surge in bonus awards among the country’s lenders this year, bucking a global trend of pay cuts on Wall Street and in London. Royal Bank, Canada’s biggest by assets, and National, the sixth-largest lender, boosted variable compensation by 11% in the year ended Oct. 31, the biggest increases among the country’s main banks. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce was the only one among the group to pare its bonus pool, trimming 2% from last year’s allocation.

- By Stock Jackal:The "Big 5" Canadian Banks Royal Bank (RY), Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS), Bank of Montreal (BMO), Toronto Dominion (TD), and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (

By Big Babu: The Bank

Bank of Montreal, Canada’s fourth-largest lender, awarded Chief Executive Officer William Downe $9.22 million in 2012 compensation, a 6.8% drop from a year earlier, after the bank missed some financial targets. Downe, 60, received about $1.25 million in salary, a $1 million bonus, $6.95 million in shares and stock options for the year, and $12,540 in other compensation, the Toronto-based lender said Friday in a filing. He received $9.89 million for 2011. The amounts exclude pension costs.

ByCranky: Canada's big banks have been headed in the right direction for decades on end.In early November I published this article on the very successful One Stock Portfolio. The portfolio, er stock, returned some 2,274% from 1996 to present. That's above a 20% annual return. Many, many "investors" have participated in this one stock approach, and have certainly enjoyed turning $10,000 into $227k in just 17 years.

By Big Babu:This is the second installment of my analysis on banks from Canada. For my previous analysis on BMO, please see the link here. The Bank