Overtime Lawsuit Is a Minor Setback

Article Excerpt

CANADIAN IMPERIAL BANK OF COMMERCE $98 (Toronto symbol CM; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 337.5 million; Market cap: $33.1 billion; SI Rating: Above average) is the target of a $600 million class-action lawsuit accusing the bank of failing to pay overtime to 10,000 current and former employees. It will take about a year to come to trial. This is the largest overtime class-action lawsuit ever filed in Canada, but it is small compared to similar U.S. suits. Any award is likely to be modest in relation to the bank’s earnings, which were $807 million or $2.27 a share in its second fiscal quarter ended April 30, 2007. Even if CIBC settles out of court, the suit will undoubtedly change the way it runs its business, and increase its labour costs. But other banks will face the same added costs to stay competitive. CIBC is a buy. buy. …