TD, CIBC report solid Q4 profits amid restructuring efforts

TD and CIBC both reported solidfourth-quarter profits and higher full-year profits as they tookstepsto restructure their businesses to improve efficiency.

Toronto-Dominion Bank reported$1.84 billion of net income in its financial fourth quarter, a 5.3 per cent increase from
last year despite higher restructuring costs.

The profit amounted to 96 cents per share or $1.14 per share on an adjusted basis, after excluding $243 million of after-tax restructuring charges and other items.

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Revenue for the three-month period increased to $8.05 billion, up eight per cent from last year.

TD's Canadian retail banking arm accounted for $1.5 billion of profit, which was up 15 per cent before adjustments and 10 per cent after adjustments.

The bank says its Canadian retail operations experienced higher loan, deposit and wealth asset volumes, strong credit performance, higher insurance earnings and good expense management.

TD's U.S. retail banking operations grew net income to $486 million, an increase of 14 per cent that included the positive impact of Canada's weaker dollar, while wholesale banking operations increased net income by 23 per cent to $196 million.

The restructuring charges were recorded at the corporate level, part of cost-reduction efforts that included a redesign of TD's internal processes, branch and real estate optimization and an organizational review.

For the full year ended Oct. 31, TD's net income was $8.02 billion and revenue was $31.4 billion, up from $7.88 billion of net income and $29.96 billion of revenue in fiscal 2014.

"Results for the year reflect good earnings performance from all businesses, driven by good organic growth, strong credit quality, favourable currency translation and positive operating leverage," said TD president and CEO Bharat Masrani.

CIBCQ4 profit dips,hikes dividend

CIBC reportedits net income for the fourth quarter was $778 million, a 2.8 per cent decline from the same time last year due to higher restructuring costs at the corporate level.

The bank's profit for the three months ended Oct. 31 amounted to $1.93 per CIBC common share or $2.36 per share after excluding $161 million in restructuring expenses after taxes.

Revenue increased to nearly $3.5 billion from about $3.2 billion in the comparable period last year, up 8.4 per cent, with all three main portions of the business contributing to the increase.

CIBC's retail and business banking operations accounted for most of the overall fourth quarter profit: $655 million up $53 million from the same time last year.

The bank's wealth management arm also increased its profit to $123 million from $119 million and its capital markets operations grew net income to $209 million from $136 million.

The decline in overall fourth-quarter profit was at the corporate level, where the loss grew to $209 million from $46 million.

The bank had disclosed in October at an investor day that it would take a restructuring charge of up to $200 million in the fourth quarter, but provided no further details then or in Thursday's press release on its quarterly and 12-month results.

Jobs trimmed

It did reveal that CIBC's total workforce was reduced by 124 positions during the quarter to 16,977, but they accounted for less than one per cent of CIBC's employees.

Excluding the restructuring and other items, CIBC's adjusted earnings for the quarter rose to $952 million from $911 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014.

For the full financial year ended Oct. 31, CIBC had $3.59 billion of net income and $7.92 billion of revenue, up from $3.22 billion of net income and $7.5 billion of revenue in fiscal 2014.

"In 2015, all three of our strategic business units delivered strong performance," CIBC president and CEO Victor Dodig said in a statement. "Looking to 2016, I am confident that our client-focused strategy and our investment in innovation and process improvements will add long-term value for our shareholders."

CIBCalso boosted its quarterly dividend by three cents to $1.15 percommon share