The Successful Investor Hotline – Friday, March 1, 2013

Article Excerpt

BANK OF MONTREAL, $64.08, Toronto symbol BMO, reported better-than-expected earnings this week. That’s mainly because stronger results from securities trading and wealth management offset lower earnings from its retail-banking business. In the first quarter of the bank’s 2013 fiscal year, which ended January 31, 2013, its earnings rose 7.1%, to $1.04 billion, or $1.52 a share. These figures exclude unusual items, such as costs to integrate U.S. banking firm Marshall & Ilsley, which Bank of Montreal bought in July 2011. On that basis, the latest earnings beat the consensus estimate of $1.48 a share. A year earlier, Bank of Montreal earned $972 million, or $1.42 a share. Overall revenue fell 0.9%, to $4.08 billion from $4.12 billion. Revenue was unchanged at the Canadian banking business, which supplies 39% of the bank’s overall revenue. Low interest rates continue to attract borrowers, but they also hurt the income that Bank of Montreal earns on its loans. Revenue at its U.S. operations (19% of…