CIBC is planning for a range of outcomes amid trade and geopolitical tensions that the bank’s CEO says are having “real consequences on the economy.”
“The developments over the past week are a reminder that the path forward will not be linear,” chief executive Harry Culham said on the bank’s third-quarter earnings call on Thursday.
He’s primarily referencing the trade dispute between Canada and the U.S. that has intensified, with U.S. President Donald Trump imposing 50% tariffs on about $28 billion worth of Canadian products over the weekend. Ottawa has responded with its own dollar-for-dollar tariffs on a range of American products.
CIBC chief risk officer Frank Guse said on the call that the lender’s credit performance remained resilient during the quarter.
Its provision for credit losses amounted to $564 million compared with $559 million in the same quarter last year.
“We have built additional reserves for tariff-related risks through expert credit judgment overlays since the beginning of fiscal ’25 and continue to build our allowance this quarter,” Guse said.
“Our most sensitive business lending exposures to the tariff impacts represent less than one per cent of the bank’s total loan portfolio. We’ve also run a variety of stress testing on the portfolios to ensure we remain well prepared for a range of outcomes.”
CIBC says it earned $2.4 billion in its third quarter, up from $2.1 billion in the same quarter last year, helped by revenue growth across its business.
The lender took a $232 million after-tax charge related to the recent sale of CIBC Caribbean during the quarter.
The bank said Thursday its profit amounted to $2.47 per diluted share for the quarter ending July 31 compared with a profit of $2.15 per diluted share a year earlier.
On an adjusted basis, CIBC says it earned $2.73 per diluted share for its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of $2.16 per diluted share in the same quarter last year.
Revenue totalled $8.4 billion for the quarter, up from $7.3 billion a year earlier.
Analysts on average had expected a profit of $2.53 per share and $8 billion in revenue, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
Despite the recent trade flare-up, Culham touted several reasons why he remains optimistic for the Canadian economy.
“Canada’s renewed focus on sovereignty and economic resiliency is creating one of the most significant capital mobilization efforts and opportunities our country has seen in decades. The implementation of Canada’s defence industrial strategy represents a substantial opportunity for our commercial clients,” Culham said.
CIBC says its Canadian personal and business banking business earned $948 million for its third quarter, up from $812 million a year ago, helped by higher revenue, partially offset by higher non-interest expenses.
The bank’s Canadian commercial banking and wealth management business earned $619 million in its latest quarter, up from $598 million in same quarter last year. The rise was primarily due to higher revenue and partially offset by higher non-interest expenses and a higher provision for credit losses.
Canadian wealth management revenue was up $1.3 billion, up from $1 billion in the same period a year ago. The $241-million increase came mainly from higher fee-based revenue from higher average asset balances, higher commission revenue and higher net interest income.
CIBC’s U.S. commercial banking and wealth management business earned $320 million in its third quarter, up from $254 million a year ago, while its capital markets business earned $722 million in its latest quarter, up from $540 million a year ago.
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