BMO’s first-quarter profit jumps as Scotiabank reports drop

Canadian lender Bank of Montreal BMO.TO on Tuesday reported a jump in first-quarter profit driven by strength in its capital markets business.

Adjusted earnings from BMO’s capital markets business jumped 45% to C$591 million ($414.39 million) in the quarter.

A revival in dealmaking activity has boosted the fees at banks that earn from underwriting stock and bonds sales as well from advising on deals.

Meanwhile, BMO’s provision for credit losses jumped to C$1.01 billion in the quarter from C$627 million a year earlier. Rival lender Scotiabank BNS.TO on Tuesday also set aside bigger loan loss provisions.

BMO’s adjusted net income rose to C$2.29 billion ($1.60 billion), or C$3.04 per share, in the three months ended January 31, compared with C$1.89 billion, or C$2.56 per share, a year earlier.

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Canadian lender Bank of Nova Scotia BNS.TO reported a fall in first-quarter profit on Tuesday, hit by an impairment loss stemming from its deal to hand over its Latin American operations to Colombian bank Davivienda.

Scotiabank said last month that it will transfer its operations in Colombia, Costa Rica and Panama to Davivienda, in exchange for a 20% stake in the Colombian bank.

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It had said that it would log an impairment loss of around C$1.4 billion in the first quarter on the deal, with another C$300 million hit on closing due to foreign-exchange effects.

It reported a profit of C$993 million ($696.01 million), or 66 Canadian cents apiece, for the quarter ended January 31, compared with C$2.2 billion, or C$1.68 per share, in the year-ago period.

Reporting by Arasu Kannagi Basil in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid

Reporting by Jaiveer Singh Shekhawat in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber