TORONTO – The Bank of Montreal, the first of Canada’s big banks to report its third-quarter results, saw profits grow by four per cent in what one analyst says could be a signal that concerns over rising loan losses in the oilpatch may be overblown.
BMO (TSX:BMO) reported net income of $1.25 billion during the quarter, up from $1.19 billion during the comparable three-month period ended July 31.
On a per share basis, BMO’s earnings amounted to $1.86, compared with $1.80 during the same period last year.
“We continue to demonstrate sustained momentum in an environment of low interest rates and moderate economic growth,” CEO Bill Downe said during a conference call Tuesday to discuss the bank’s results.
Downe also hinted that the bank is eyeing acquisition opportunities.
“We maintain an active dialogue across a wide range of opportunities at all times when our capital is building,” said Downe.
“If we have the opportunity to expand within (our) footprint or adjacent to (our) footprint in things that are complementary to our business, we will pursue it, but I wouldn’t imply that there’s something imminent.”
BMO’s earnings will be followed by Royal Bank (TSX:RY) on Wednesday and CIBC (TSX:CM) and TD Bank (TSX:TD) on Thursday. Scotiabank (TSX:BNS) is scheduled to report next Tuesday and National Bank (TSX:NA) wraps up the earnings parade on Aug. 31.
Barclays analyst John Aiken said that if BMO’s results are any indication of how other banks have fared, that will likely “take some of the wind out of the sails” of bearish investors ringing the alarm about oilpatch-related loan losses.
“While energy related provisions were up sequentially (from the second quarter), BMO is simply playing a bit of catch-up and there did not appear to be any significant deterioration in the domestic consumer portfolio,” Aiken said in a note to clients.
BMO said provisions for credit losses climbed to $257 million during the quarter, up from $160 million during the same quarter last year. Most of the increase came from loans to the energy sector.
Many had been expecting that credit would be a “significant theme” during the quarter, said Aiken.
“We no longer believe that energy exposures are driving valuations and consumer credit remained benign,” he said.
Overall, Aiken said the bank’s results — including $5.63 billion in quarterly revenue, up from $4.83 billion a year ago — were better than he had anticipated.
“Generally, BMO reported a solid quarter with few areas that we can poke holes in,” Aiken said.
After adjustments, BMO had a quarterly profit of $1.30 billion, or $1.94 per share, compared with $1.23 billion, or $1.86 per share, a year ago.
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