BMO Financial Group reports $2.3B Q4 profit, raises quarterly dividend
Posted Dec 5, 2024 5:00 am.
Last Updated Dec 5, 2024 6:48 am.
BMO Financial Group raised its quarterly dividend as it reported a fourth-quarter profit of $2.30 billion, boosted by the reversal of a 2022 jury verdict against the bank in a lawsuit related to a Ponzi scheme in the United States.
The bank said Thursday it will now pay a quarterly dividend of $1.59 per share, up from $1.55 per share.
The increase came as BMO says it earned $2.94 per diluted share for the quarter ended Oct. 31, up from a profit of $1.71 billion or $2.19 per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue totalled $8.96 billion, up from $8.32 billion in the same quarter last year, while its provision for credit losses rose to $1.52 billion compared with $446 million a year earlier.
On an adjusted basis, BMO says it earned $1.90 per diluted share in its latest quarter, down from an adjusted profit of $2.93 per diluted share a year ago.
The average analyst estimate had been for an adjusted profit of $2.41 per share, according to data provided by LSEG Data & Analytics.
“Our overall results were impacted by elevated provisions for credit losses, and we expect quarterly provisions to moderate through 2025 as the business environment improves,” BMO chief executive Darryl White said in a statement.
BMO said its Canadian personal and commercial banking business earned $750 million in its latest quarter, down from a profit of $922 million in the same quarter last year.
In the U.S., the bank said its personal and commercial banking operations earned $256 million, down from a profit of $591 million a year earlier.
BMO’s wealth management business earned $326 million, down from a profit of $351 million a year ago, while its capital markets business earned $251 million, down from a profit of $472 million in the same quarter last year.
The bank’s corporate services segment reported a profit of $721 million, compared with a loss of $626 million a year ago, as it reversed a 2022 provision related to a lawsuit associated with Marshall and Ilsley Bank, which BMO bought in 2011.
