By Robb M. Stewart
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce notched a jump in first-quarter earnings on the back of record revenue across each of its business units and a strengthened return on equity.
CIBC, one of the country's largest lenders, recorded net income of 3.10 billion Canadian dollars ($2.27 billion), or C$3.21 a share, for the three months ended Jan. 31, against C$2.17 billion, or C$2.19, a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, per-share earnings came in at C$2.76, above the C$2.40 mean estimate of analysts polled by FactSet.
Total revenue climbed 15% to C$8.4 billion, beating the C$7.7 billion analysts anticipated.
Return on equity, a measure of profitability and efficiency, widened to 17.4% on an adjusted basis from 15.3% in the same period last year.
CIBC's provision for credit losses was C$568 million in the latest quarter, down C$37 million on the quarter before and C$5 million below a year earlier. Analysts were expecting C$562 million analysts expected to be put aside against the risk of defaults.
The provision for credit losses on performing loans fell on a the same period last year thanks to a more favorable economic outlook, while the provision on impaired loans was up mainly due to higher provisions in Canadian commercial banking and wealth management, and Canadian personal and business banking, CIBC said.
Excluding provisions and tax, earnings for the second quarter were 19% higher than a year earlier at C$4.08 billion, CIBC said.
The bank's Canadian personal and business banking segment recorded a 25% rise in net income as revenue was driven by a higher net interest margin and loan growth. Commercial banking and wealth management income in Canada was up about 9% year-over-year, thanks to higher fee-based revenue in its wealth business and a lift in commissions with increased client activity.
CIBC's U.S. commercial banking and wealth unit logged a 19% increase in net income, as a rise in commercial revenue due to higher volumes, net interest margin and increased advisory fees offset a drop in wealth management revenue with lower annual performance-based mutual fund fees.
The bank's common equity Tier 1 capital ratio stood at 13.4% for the three-month period, slightly wider than the 13.3% at the end of the prior quarter.
Canada's banking regulator requires the big banks to hold a capital ratio of no less than 11.5% of risk-weighted assets.
Write to Robb M. Stewart at robb.stewart@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 26, 2026 05:55 ET (10:55 GMT)
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