CIBC boosts dividend, buys back shares

Article Excerpt

CANADIAN IMPERIAL BANK OF COMMERCE $94 (Toronto symbol CM; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 397.2 million; Market cap: $37.3 billion;Price-to-sales ratio: 3.0; Dividend yield: 4.8%; TSINetwork Rating:Above Average; www.cibc.com) earned $990 million in its fiscal2015 third quarter, which ended July 31, 2015, up 9.0% from $908million a year earlier. Earnings per share gained 9.9%, to $2.45from $2.23, on fewer shares outstanding. Revenue improved 4.9%,to $3.5 billion from $3.4 billion. CIBC’s main Canadian retail banking operations (61% of the total) reported 8.0% higher profits after approving more loans and setting aside less money to cover potential defaults. Earnings from securities trading (26%) fell 4.3%, as higher employee salaries offset improving trading volumes. Wealth management earnings(13%) gained 15.7%, thanks to rising stock markets, which increased the value of the assets this business administers. Loan-loss provisions fell 3.1%, to $189 million from $195 million ayear earlier, mainly due to better results from CIBC’s credit card portfolio. The bank also raised its dividend…