TORONTO – 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 says 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.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 5, 2024.
Companies in this story: (TSX:BMO)
