All articles by Douglas Blakey
Douglas Blakey
BMO posts 12.5% rise in H1 net profit
Bank of Montreal (BMO) has posted an interim net income of C$1.58bn ($1.61bn) for the six months to 30 April, an increase of 12.5% from the same period last year. BMOs retail focused Personal & Commercial (P&C) unit in Canada posted a first half net income of C$845m, up 5.9% but the P&C unit in the US reported a 13.4% fall in net income year-on-year to C$84m. Second quarter retail highlights at BMO included the introduction of free coin-counting machines in new and renovated branches across Canada and the launch in April of BMO Mobile Banking.
Tax levy hammers OTP: Q1 net income falls 12%
OTP, Hungarys largest lender, has posted a first quarter net income of HUF37.2bn ($197.9m), down 12% from the year ago period. The Hungarian banking sector levy bit OPT hard: the lender said that the extraordinary tax in the three months to 31 March amounted to HUF7.2bn. OTPs first quarter net interest income increased by 6% to HUF151.7bn; net fees and commission rose by 5% to HUF32.7bn.
Cash, debit still key for Canadians but e-transfer on the rise
The vast majority of Canadians (81%) continue to use cash and debit cards for their day-to-day spending, while cheque use is in decline (55%), according to a poll conducted for Bank of Montreal (BMO).
Capitec blazes trail with Sunday opening
South African lender, Capitec, the countrys youngest and in recent years, the fastest-growing retail bank, has announced plans to open 84 of its 460-strong-branch-network on a Sunday. Capitec Bank has a single-minded approach to banking: it is based on the retail model and challenges the traditional banking experience.
Strong retail Q1 boosts Dexia
Belgian-French lender has posted a first quarter net profit of 69m ($97.3m), down 69% from the same period a year ago (Q110: 216m). But thethree month period to 31 March witnessed a strong performance from Dexias retail banking unit in particular at its Turkey-based subsidiary DenizBank. Pre-tax income soared by 50.9% year-on-year to 251m at Dexias Retail & Commercial Banking unit; first quarter revenue at the unit increased by 4.6% to 728m.
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United Bank of India selects Cisco, Wipro for WAN optimisation
Public sector lender, United Bank of India (UBI), has selected Indian-headquartered outsourcer Wipro to deploy Ciscos wide area network optimisation solution across all of its branch-network. According to the lender, the network will help enable UBIs vision of providing the benefits of banking to rural and agricultural economies, and to Indias burgeoning small and medium-sized enterprise sector.
Shinsei returns to the black, posts ?42.6bn profit for FY11
Mid-sized Japanese lender Shinsei has returned to profit and has posted a net profit of 42.6bn ($528.1m) for the 12 months to 31 March following a loss of 140.1bn in the previous fiscal year.
Intesa Q1 net income falls by 3.9% to ?661m
Intesa Sanpaolos first quarter net income has fallen by 3.9% to 661m ($940.1m) from the year ago quarter. Net profit at Intesas retail focused Banca dei Territori division fell by 13.4% to 258m for the three months to 31 March.
UniCredit Q1 net income rises by 56%
UniCredit has beaten analyst forecasts with a first quarter net profit of 810m ($1.15bn), a 56% increase from the same period a year ago. By contrast, Italian rival Intesa Sanpaolos first quarter net income fell by 3.9% to 661m for the three months to 31 March. UniCredits total lending increased by 0.6% to 558.8bn while deposits were flat at 582.4bn; total assets fell by 2.0% year-on-year to 910.9bn.
RBS posts Q1 loss of £116m
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has recorded another loss-making quarter, posting a loss before tax of £116m ($190.3m); in the year-ago quarter, RBS lost £5m. Although impairments declined by 27% from the same quarter last year to £1.95bn, group income fell by 12% year-on-year.