Strong earnings prompt dividend hike

Article Excerpt

CANADIAN IMPERIAL BANK OF COMMERCE $77 (Toronto symbol CM; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 398.9 million; Market cap: $30.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.9; Dividend yield: 4.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.cibc.com) earned $808 million, or $1.89 a share, in the three months ended July 31, 2011. That’s up 26.3% from $640 million, or $1.53 a share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 7.3%, to $3.1 billion from $2.8 billion. Most of these gains came from CIBC’s main retail-banking business, which continues to see strong demand for loans as a result of low interest rates. Retail banking now accounts for 77% of CIBC’s business, up from 74% a year earlier. As well, more borrowers are paying back their loans on time. That’s letting CIBC set aside less money to cover bad loans: the bank’s loan-loss provisions fell 11.8% in the quarter, to $195 million from $221 million a year earlier. Thanks to its improving outlook, CIBC has raised its dividend for the first…