(May 30 – 14:20 ET) – Laurentian Bank reported slightly stronger than expected results today, with net income of $23.1 million or 88¢ per share for the quarter ended April 30.

This is up from 73¢ per share for the same period in 2000. Return on common share equity before goodwill was 14.0% for the quarter, compared to 12.9% in 2000. The improvement is being attributed to total revenue growth of 19% to $146.9 million in 2001 due to the acquisition of the Scotiabank branches in Quebec last summer, and improved loan and deposit margins and internal growth.

The bank expects to realize planned cost synergies of branch acquisitions during the coming quarters now that the integration is completed. Cost synergies will result from the full integration of the Scotiabank branch business on Laurentian’s systems, the merging of several branches and the end of the servicing agreement with Scotiabank. Once this acquisition is fully integrated, the banks expects that the efficiency ratio of the Retail Banking sector will have improved by 4 to 5% year over year.

Net interest income grew 32% to $88.2 million, and non-interest income grew slightly from $57.0 million in 2000 to $58.7 million in 2001. The increase is attributable to higher lending and deposit fee income associated with additional volumes; brokerage and securitization revenues were down slightly.

For the second quarter of 2001, net income contributions were 27% from Retail Banking, 36% from B2B Trust & Agency Banking and 37% from Commercial and Corporate Banking. The net income contributions were 23%, 36% and 41% respectively during the second quarter of 2000.

“The bank is pleased with these results, meeting its profitability targets for the quarter,” says Henri-Paul Rousseau, president and CEO. “The Quebec Scotiabank branch conversion and integration was
completed in early May 2001 and we are grateful for the support of our employees and customers. Our level of business retention remains high. With the North American economic slowdown that could temporarily affect loan and deposit growth, we will continue to manage our resources and costs cautiously in the coming quarters.”
-IE Staff