CIBC kicked off the second-quarter earnings period for Canadian banks on Wednesday. The bank reported higher profit for the second quarter ended April 30.

Canada’s fourth largest bank by assets said lower loan loss provisions and a rise in investment banking profit lead to the increase.

Second-quarter profit was $320 million, or 76¢ a share, up from profit of $227 million, or 51¢ a share, a year earlier.

Second-quarter results included an after-tax writedown of $81 million, or 22¢ a share diluted, linked to its Aeroplan credit-card contract with Air Canada. Excluding that, CIBC had earnings per share of 98¢.

The bank said total revenues were $2.7 billion for the second quarter, down from $2.97 billion in the year-before period. CIBC said it set aside $248 million in loan loss provisions, down from $390 million last year.

Return on equity rose to 11.9% in the second quarter, up from 8% in the corresponding period last year.

Income from retail operations was $159 million during the quarter, down from $218 million last year.

The bank’s investment banking unit, CIBC World Markets, profit of $115 million, up sharply from $57 million last year.

In a statement, CIBC Chief Executive John Hunkin said “Our business mix continued to shift in favour of Retail and Wealth, and our emphasis on cost control intensified across all operations. All of our business lines made progress during the quarter.”