BMO Financial Group’s wealth management unit has posted a net income of C$134m for the second quarter of fiscal year 2016, down 43.7% compared to C$238m in the year-ago quarter.
The division’s adjusted net income plunged 40.4% to C$158m from C$265m in the prior year. Adjusted net income in traditional wealth dropped 46.7% to C$90m from C$169m a year earlier, driven by a C$79m after-tax write-down of an equity investment.
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The unit’s assets under management and administration dipped 2% year-on-year to C$817bn, due to market depreciation, partially offset by favourable foreign exchange movements.
Overall, the group reported a net income of C$973m for the second quarter of fiscal 2016, a fall of 3% from the year-ago quarter, owing to a C$132m after-tax restructuring charge.
Meanwhile, the bank has announced that it will shed about 1,850 jobs, representing 4% of its workforce.
The bank said that the layoffs are the result of automation of some of its processes amidst increasing adoption of online banking by customers.
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By GlobalDataBMO Financial Group CEO Bill Downe said: "BMO delivered good results in the second quarter with adjusted net income of $1.2 billion and adjusted EPS of $1.73, reflecting strong performance in our combined personal and commercial banking business which grew 14% from last year.
"Year-to-date adjusted net income and EPS were both up 7% driven by diversified loan and deposit growth, good revenue performance and a continued focus on expense control. Canadian and U.S. Personal and Commercial Banking and BMO Capital Markets had positive operating leverage and, in BMO Wealth Management, underlying business growth remained solid."
