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Dec 1 (Reuters) - Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce CM.TO , Canada's fifth-biggest lender, reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit, driven by strong performance in its capital markets business.
The company said the unit gained from higher equity trading and underwriting revenue, as well as a rise in financing activity in the fourth quarter.
Net income from capital markets business surged 52.5 percent to C$276 million in the quarter ended Oct. 31.
CIBC has been expanding in the United States to help offset slow growth in its domestic market and said in June it would buy Chicago-based PrivateBancorp PVTB.O in a $3.8 billion cash-and-share deal, its biggest ever acquisition. advisory firms Glass Lewis and Egan-Jones on Thursday recommended that PrivateBancorp's shareholders vote in favor of the sale to CIBC. bank's total net income rose to C$931 million ($694 million), or C$2.32 per share, from C$778 million, or C$1.93 cents per share, a year earlier. items, the company earned C$2.60 per share, beating the average analysts' estimate of C$2.48, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
CIBC also raised its dividend to C$1.24 per share from C$1.21 per share.
($1 = 1.3407 Canadian dollars)