A customer walks out of a Canadian Western Bank branch in Calgary, in this file photo.TODD KOROL/Reuters
Canadian Western Bank rose in Toronto trading after posting third-quarter profit that showed little deterioration in the country's energy-dependent provinces.
Shares of the Edmonton-based bank, Canada's eighth-largest by assets, climbed 3.5 per cent to $24.72 at 9:39 a.m., leading a increase in the country's other big lenders.
"CWB seemingly continues to operate in a 'business as usual' manner despite low oil prices and deteriorating economic conditions in Alberta," Darko Mihelic, an RBC Capital Markets analyst, said in a note to clients. "We did not see any evidence of deteriorating loan growth and credit quality from the low oil price environment."
Profit from continuing operations for the period ended July 31 was $51.2-million, or 64 cents a share, excluding contributions from insurance and stock transfer businesses sold in May, the company said Thursday in a statement. That compares with $52.7-million, or 65 cents, a year earlier.
Canadian Western, the last of the nation's big banks to report quarterly results, was the only lender to miss analyst expectations. Adjusted earnings were 65 cents a share, falling short of the 67-cent average estimate of nine analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
Earnings were hurt by a $5-million securities loss, while the lender recorded higher expenses and set aside more money for bad loans than a year earlier.
"Results look worse than they really are, given the hit from an unusually large securities gains number," Meny Grauman, a Cormark Securities analyst, said in a note. "Although one would be hard-pressed to see signs of Western Canadian economic stress in these results, management clearly acknowledges that there are tougher times likely ahead."