Good quarter for BMO

Article Excerpt

BANK OF MONTREAL $84 (Toronto symbol BMO; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 646.4 million; Market cap: $54.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.6; Dividend yield: 3.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.bmo.com) earned $1.15 billion in the three months ended July 31, 2014, up 3.6% from $1.11 billion a year ago. Per-share earnings rose 4.2%, to $1.73 from $1.66, on fewer shares outstanding. Earnings from Canadian retail banking (43% of the total) rose 8.0%, as low interest rates spurred demand for mortgages and business loans. The U.S. retail banking division (14%) reported a 6.2% gain in profits, mainly due to improving business loan demand. The bank’s trading division (25%) saw its earnings rise 13.8% on higher volumes and more stock-underwriting deals. However, wealth management earnings (18%) fell 5.4%, due to a one-time charge at its insurance business. Loan-loss provisions jumped 71.1%, to $130 million from $76 million, as the bank set aside more funds to cover potential losses on U.S. corporate loans…