A trio of share sales helped to boost CIBC profit by 21% during the first quarter.

The bank today reported a quarterly profit of $707 million, or $1.94 a share, compared with a profit of $586 million, or $1.54 a share, a year earlier.

CIBC said its most recent results were lifted by an $85 million gain on the sale of shares of Republic Bank, a $115 million gain on the sale of shares of Juniper Financial Corp., and a $34 million gain on the sale of shares of ACE Aviation Holdings Inc.

The bank said its return on equity for the quarter was 25.7%, compared with 21.0% for the same period a year earlier.

“CIBC recorded another strong quarter of results,” said John Hunkin, the bank’s CEO, in a release.

CIBC Retail Markets’ net income was $364 million, up $87 million from the first quarter of 2004, due to the gain on the Republic Bank and ACE sales, and volume growth in personal banking.

CIBC Wealth Management made $114 million, up $24 million from the first quarter of 2004, which included a provision of $25 million related to the bank’s dealing with some hedge funds in the U.S.

The bank’s brokerage division, CIBC World Markets, reported a profit of $173 million, which was down $15 million from the same quarter of last year, primarily due to reduced revenue from sales of non-core loans.