Focusing on Canada pays off for CIBC

Article Excerpt

CANADIAN IMPERIAL BANK OF COMMERCE $87 (Toronto symbol CM; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 397.3 million; Market cap: $34.6 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.7; Dividend yield: 5.3%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.cibc.com) is Canada’s fifth-largest bank, with total assets of $463.3 billion. CIBC has built up its Canadian banking operations in the past few years, and this business now supplies 62% of its earnings. It gets a further 25% from its capital markets division, which provides brokerage and underwriting services in Canada, the U.S. and other countries. The remaining 13% comes from its wealth management division, which has $304.8 billion in assets under administration and management. Steady revenue and earnings gains CIBC’s revenue rose 11.4%, from $12.4 billion in 2011 to $13.9 billion in 2015 (fiscal years end October 31). Earnings gained 24.8%, from $7.57 a share (or a total of $3.0 billion) in 2011 to $9.45 a share (or $3.8 billion). The bank recently agreed to…