Canadian Western Bank’s first Eastern branch, in Mississauga, Ont., on Oct. 31, 2021.Christopher Katsarov/The Globe and Mail
CWB Financial Group CWB-T reported its third-quarter profit fell compared with a year ago as it saw the amount it set aside for bad loans climb higher.
The company behind Canadian Western Bank, which agreed in June to be acquired by National Bank of Canada NA-T, says its common shareholders’ net income amounted to $41.4-million or 43 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended July 31.
The result was down from a profit of $83.1-million or 86 cents per diluted share in the same quarter last year.
Revenue for the quarter totalled $298.5-million, up from $283.5-million a year earlier, while the bank’s total provision for credit losses amounted to $55.0-million in its latest quarter, up from $15.0-million a year ago.
On an adjusted basis, CWB says it earned 60 cents per share in its latest quarter, down from an adjusted profit of 88 cents per share in the same quarter last year.
Analysts on average had expected an adjusted profit of 86 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
“Our third-quarter performance was negatively impacted by a significant increase in the provision for credit losses on impaired loans,” CWB chief executive Chris Fowler said in a statement.
“The increase primarily related to two loans where borrower-specific circumstances resulted in unusually large provisions for these specific exposures. We anticipate credit losses will trend back towards our normal historical range next quarter.”