Topic: How To Invest

The Successful Investor Hotline – Friday, August 26, 2016

Article Excerpt

BANK OF MONTREAL, $86.84, Toronto symbol BMO, gained 3% this week after the bank reported better-than-expected earnings. In its fiscal 2016 third quarter, which ended July 31, 2016, Bank of Montreal’s revenue rose 7.2%, to $4.9 billion from $4.6 billion a year earlier. It earned $1.3 billion. That’s up 5.3% from $1.2 billion. Due to more shares outstanding, earnings per share rose 4.3%, to $1.94 from $1.86. Those figures exclude costs related to the bank’s recent restructuring, which included closing branches and expanding its online and mobile banking operations. On that basis, the latest earnings beat the consensus estimate of $1.81 a share. Earnings from Canadian retail banking (41% of the total) rose 0.9%. Loan demand from consumers and businesses remained strong. That offset higher loan-loss provisions to cover future bad loans. The U.S. retail banking division (20%) saw its profits jump 24.8%. That was due to Bank of Montreal’s recent acquisition of General Electric’s transportation-financing operation. That business lends money to commercial truck…