B2B Trust today announced strong financial results for the third quarter ended July 31, 2001, and reports net income, excluding special items, of $5.7 million or $0.28 per share. Return on common shareholders’ equity of 16.6%, compared to net income of $5.3 million or $ 0.29 per share in the second quarter of 2001.

Including special items, B2B Trust’s net income was $4.6 million or $0.22 per common share and return on common shareholders’ equity was 13.4% for the quarter. These financial results include a $1.6 million charge reflecting the impact of the recent Ontario corporate income tax rate reduction on the future income tax asset of $21.5 million. It was recorded as a result of the B2B Trust corporate reorganization; the charge was partially offset by $0.5 million favourable special tax items.

For the nine-month period ended July 31, 2001, total revenue increased to $55.1 million from $ 49,4 million in 2000, an increase of 12%. For the same period, net income totalled $15.1 million or $0.79 per share. Without the special tax items mentioned above, net income for the period was $16.2 million or $0.85 per share compared to $12.0 million or $0.65 per share in 2000. On the same basis, return on shareholders’ equity was 15.8% for the first nine months of 2001, while it was 12.5% in 2000.

Henri-Paul Rousseau, president and chief executive officer said, “B2B Trust is pleased to report strong results for its first quarter as a public company. The successful completion of the initial public offering of common shares of B2B Trust provides us with the capital required to support our future expansion. B2B Trust continues to operate with an efficiency ratio (expenses divided by total revenue) of less than 50%. With very strong capital ratios, B2B Trust is well positioned for the asset growth associated with newly signed alliances.”