Toronto-Dominion Bank

,

Bank of Montreal

and the

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce

comfortably beat

analysts’ fourth-quarter earnings expectations

on Thursday despite the economic uncertainty.

Their profits were largely driven by business segments such as capital markets, which help large companies raise funds and deal with activities such as trading, as well as wealth management, which is a financial service for people with significant assets.

“While economic uncertainty has impacted business and consumer confidence, Canada’s economy and employment remain largely resilient,” TD’s chief executive Raymond Chun said on a call with analysts on Thursday.

He also said recent announcements by the federal government to speed up the completion of major nation-building projects and other measures to encourage private-sector and foreign investment can help support economic activity.

All six

of

Canada’s biggest banks

reported their results for the three months ending Oct. 31 this week.

Their earnings help provide insights

into how the economy is performing, as do their provisions for credit losses (PCLs), the amount of money they keep aside to tackle loans that may potentially go bad.

Most lenders increased their PCLs in the fourth quarter, but they weren’t higher than expected. For example, TD’s total PCLs were $982 million, slightly higher than the $971 million reported in the third quarter, but lower than the $1.1 billion held in the fourth quarter a year ago.

TD’s fourth-quarter net income was $3.28 billion, compared to $3.63 billion a year ago, resulting in net earnings per share of $1.82.

Its adjusted net income — which removes the impact of non-recurring items — was $3.9 billion, compared to $3.2 billion last year, resulting in adjusted earnings per share of $2.18, which beat analysts’ expectations of about $2.01 per share.

The bank also said it continued to take steps to “reduce its cost base and achieve greater efficiency” in the fourth quarter, resulting in a $190-million restructuring charge. The restructuring program began in the second quarter.

“In connection with this program, the bank incurred $686 million pre-tax of restructuring charges during the year ended Oct. 31, 2025, which primarily related to employee severance and other personnel-related costs, asset impairment and other rationalization, including certain business wind-downs, and real estate optimization,” it said.

TD expects to incur additional restructuring charges next quarter of about $125 million pre-tax to conclude its restructuring program with total charges of about $825 million pre-tax.

“The restructuring program generated savings of approximately $100 million pre-tax in 2025,” TD said. “The bank expects the program to generate total pre-tax fully realized annual program savings of approximately $750 million, including savings from an approximate three per cent workforce reduction.”

John Aiken, an analyst at Jefferies Inc., said in a note that he was impressed by TD’s “sustained performance” in its United States retail segment.

Bank of Montreal’s total PCLs in the fourth quarter were $755 million, significantly lower than the $1.5 billion it kept aside during the same period a year ago. Its PCLs also decreased by $42 million from the third quarter.

BMO’s fourth-quarter net income was $2.29 billion, compared to $2.3 billion during the same period a year ago, resulting in net earnings per share of $2.97.

Its adjusted net income was $2.51 billion, compared to $1.54 billion a year ago, resulting in adjusted earnings per share of $3.28, which was above analysts’ expectations of about $3.04 per share.

CIBC’s total PCLs were $605 million in the fourth quarter, up $186 million, or 44 per cent, from a year ago. Its net income was $2.18 billion, up 16 per cent from $1.88 billion in the same quarter a year ago, resulting in net earnings per share of $2.20.

Its adjusted net income was $2.19 billion, compared to $1.89 billion last year, resulting in adjusted earnings per share of $2.21, which beat analysts’ expectations of about $2.08 per share.

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• Email: nkarim@postmedia.com