TORONTO (Reuters) – Bank of Montreal’s (BMO.TO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) quarterly profit rose a stronger-than-expected 27 percent, helped by the 2011 acquisition of U.S. lender Marshall & Ilsley and rising wealth management earnings, Canada’s No. 4 bank said on Wednesday.

BMO, the first Canadian bank to report results for the fiscal second quarter ended April 30, earned C$1.03 billion ($1.01 billion), or C$1.51 a share. That compared with a year-before profit of C$813 million, or C$1.32.

Adjusted to exclude items such as tax benefits and integration costs related to the Marshall & Ilsley (M&I) acquisition, the bank earned C$1.44 a share.

That beat analysts’ expectation of a profit of C$1.36 a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The $4.1 billion takeover of M&I closed last July, more than doubling the branch count for BMO’s Harris Bank unit.

The takeover, part of a wave of recent acquisitions by Canadian banks, contributed C$171 million to BMO’s bottom line and doubled profits at its U.S. consumer banking unit to C$121 million.

But looking beyond that deal, the results showed that BMO’s main lending businesses are facing tough conditions, said National Bank of Canada analyst Peter Routledge.

TORONTO, May 23 (Reuters) – Bank of Montreal’s quarterly profit rose a stronger-than-expected 27 percent, helped by the 2011 acquisition of U.S. lender Marshall & Ilsley and rising wealth management earnings, Canada’s No. 4 bank said on Wednesday.

BMO, the first Canadian bank to report results for the fiscal second quarter ended April 30, earned C$1.03 billion ($1.01 billion), or C$1.51 a share. That compared with a year-before profit of C$813 million, or C$1.32.

Adjusted to exclude items such as tax benefits and integration costs related to the Marshall & Ilsley (M&I) acquisition, the bank earned C$1.44 a share.

That beat analysts’ expectation of a profit of C$1.36 a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The $4.1 billion takeover of M&I closed last July, more than doubling the branch count for BMO’s Harris Bank unit.

The takeover, part of a wave of recent acquisitions by Canadian banks, contributed C$171 million to BMO’s bottom line and doubled profits at its U.S. consumer banking unit to C$121 million.

But looking beyond that deal, the results showed that BMO’s main lending businesses are facing tough conditions, said National Bank of Canada analyst Peter Routledge.

TORONTO, May 20 (Reuters) – After the dust cleared from the 2008 financial crisis, Canadian banks took stock of their balance sheets and quickly realized they had a chance to expand their foreign operations on the cheap by buying distressed banking assets.

The fruits of recent purchases combined with surprisingly strong mortgage and business loan growth should underpin stronger second-quarter profits for the big banks, offsetting the impact of slumping markets-related profits.

Even so, with investors’ eyes focused on Greece’s tenuous financial situation, it’s unlikely that even a strong quarter would give much of a boost to the banks’ stocks, and earnings misses could trigger heavy selling pressure.

“We’re in a very unforgiving market right now,” said Barry Schwartz, a portfolio manager at Toronto-based Baskin Financial Services. “If any bank does come out with a disappointing quarter, I would expect to see a large downdraft.”

Even with the shakiness of investor confidence, however, profits at Canadian banks look set to soothe, reinforcing the sector’s reputation for stability, even in times of uncertainty.

As a group, the country’s six biggest banks should post year-over-year earnings growth of about 7 percent, according to RBC Capital Markets analyst Andre-Philippe Hardy, who notes his forecasts are about 2 to 3 percentage points above the average.

“We expect year-over-year earnings-growth headwinds this quarter will include slow consumer loan growth and margin pressure, while positive drivers will likely include strong commercial loan growth and the positive impact of acquisitions,” Hardy said in a note.

TORONTO, May 15 (Reuters) – Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce is hoping its deal with Rogers Communications to allow customers to pay for purchases with smartphones will help it steal clients from banking rivals who must now rush to match the offering.

Canada’s No. 5 bank announced the deal on Tuesday for the so-called “mobile wallets”, which will allow the bank’s credit card customers to make retail payments by tapping their smartphones on a sensor. See

The move came a day after Canada’s banking industry published a set of guidelines to support open standards for mobile wallets.

With banks clamoring to offer competing products, CIBC sees value in being the first off the mark. While the service will not be in place until later in the year, CIBC seems to be in the best position to get its mobile wallet off the ground first.

“There’s no doubt we wanted to be early on this, we wanted to be first,” David Williamson, CIBC’s head of retail and business banking, said in an interview.

“We want more clients, and there’s evidence that clients will gravitate to a bank that is innovative or leading.”

Canada’s banks are scrambling to build domestic market share as an expected housing slowdown threatens to put a squeeze on consumer lending volumes, which are the banks’ leading revenue driver.

TORONTO, May 15 (Reuters) – Canadians may soon be able to pay for purchases with a quick tap of their smartphones after a major bank and the country’s largest wireless carrier struck a deal to embed credit card information on handsets equipped with a chip to transmit data.

Rogers Communications Inc and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce later this year will launch the so-called mobile wallet o n some BlackBerry models from Research In Motion Ltd. D evices fro m other handset makers are expected to follow.

The tool allows shoppers to pay by simply tapping their phone on a special electronic reader already installed at many Canadian retailers. Transactions will credit a CIBC customer’s existing loyalty program.

“It will no doubt change the way Canadians pay for purchases,” said David Williamson, head of retail banking at CIBC, the country’s fifth largest bank, which ex pects to add debit cards to the service at a later date.

The agreement could mark the beginning of a Canadian boom in mobile payments, a concept that has met with limited success in Japan, South Korea and other countries where it has been introduced. Meanwhile, Google and others are setting up similar payment systems in the United States.

Other big Canadian banks and telecoms are expected to follow the lead of CIBC and Rogers in the coming months. The Roger-CIBC deal was announced the day after Canada’s banking industry published a set of guidelines to support open standards for mobile wallets.

The country’s third-largest wireless operator, Telus Corp , has said it is working with a number of banks to offer a mobile wallet to its customers in the near future.

TORONTO, May 15 (Reuters) – Mobile payments in Canada moved a step closer to reality on Tuesday as a major bank and the country’s largest wireless carrier teamed up to launch a “mobile wallet” that puts credit card credentials onto smartphones.

Rogers Communications and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce said at a joint news conference the mobile wallets will be available later this year and will be the first in Canada.

“It will no doubt change the way Canadians pay for purchases,” said David Williamson, CIBC’s head of retail banking.

Rogers had 9.3 million wireless customers at the end of March, and CIBC is Canada’s fifth-largest bank. Rogers is paying the bank a flat fee per credential added to its SIM cards.

Canada’s banking industry on Monday published a blueprint to support open standards for secure transactions using near field communications (NFC) chips that are available in a growing number of the latest smartphones.

That guidelines, a joint effort by Canada’s banks and credit unions, followed a government-sanctioned report late last year that warned Canada was falling behind in the global push for secure mobile payments.

“Today we’ve taken a giant leap forward,” said Rob Bruce, president of communications for Rogers.

TORONTO (Reuters) – Strong markets pushed Sun Life Financial Inc (SLF.TO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) profit up 56 percent in the first quarter, topping analysts’ estimates and driving Sun Life shares higher, while smaller rival Industrial Alliance (IAG.TO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) sold off after disappointing results.

Sun Life, Canada’s No. 3 insurer, earned C$1.22 per share on a operating basis, well ahead of analysts’ expectations of a profit of 75 Canadian cents.

Stripping out a C$348 million gain from higher stock markets and bond yields, core results were in line with expectations.

The results were welcome news for investors, after disappointing results last week from Manulife Financial (MFC.TO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Great-West Lifeco (GWO.TO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) prompted a selloff in the sector.

“The core numbers, which would remove market-related gains or losses, were pretty much in line, a little better than we had,” said Peter Routledge, an analyst at National Bank of Canada.

The stock rose 1.9 percent to C$22.55, the strongest Canadian financial performer of the day.

Sun Life reported consecutive losses during the third and fourth quarters of 2011 as markets weakened, forcing it and its Canadian rivals to bulk up reserves to ensure expected returns from their stock and bond portfolios match policy obligations.

TORONTO, May 10 (Reuters) – Sun Life Financial Inc sees a fit with the Asian assets of big Dutch financial services firm ING Groep NV, and would be willing to issue stock to finance a large acquisition, the Canadian life insurer’s chief executive said on Thursday.

ING said in January it plans to sell its Asian insurance and investment businesses. The assets could be sold in separate deals and could raise in the neighborhood of $6.5 billion, sources have said.

Sun Life, Canada’s No. 3 insurer, has an increasing presence in Asia and has targeted strong growth in the region.

“We’re looking at all kinds of things around the world, and I would tell you they (ING assets) fit into the (growth plan),” CEO Dean Connor told reporters after Sun Life’s annual shareholder meeting in Toronto.

“We’re looking at a number of things in Asia in the United states and asset management and so on,” he said.

Connor, who took over the reins at Sun Life from longtime CEO Donald Stewart late last year, unveiled a plan in March that included a focus on Asian growth and wealth management, while pulling out of certain money-losing businesses in the United States.

Sun Life’s profits have been hit by volatile stock markets and bond yields over the past three years, pulling the company’s shares down 60 percent from pre-crisis highs in 2007.

May 10 (Reuters) – Sun Life Financial Inc profit rose by a stronger-than-expected 56 percent in the first quarter, helped by stronger stock markets and rising bond yields, Canada’s No. 3 life insurer said on Thursday.

Sun Life earned C$686 million ($683 million), or C$1.15 a share, compared with a year-earlier profit of C$438 million, or 73 Canadian cents.

On an operating basis, which excludes certain items but includes the impact of markets, the company earned C$1.22 a share. That was well ahead of analysts’ expectations of a profit of 75 Canadian cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Stronger stock markets and higher bond yields added C$348 million to results during the quarter, a larger impact than was expected, said Peter Routledge, an analyst at National Bank Financial.

“The core numbers, which would remove market-related gains or losses, were pretty much in line, a little better than we had,” he said.

Weak markets sent the company to losses in the third and fourth quarters of 2011.

Total premiums and deposits rose to C$25.3 billion from C$20.0 billion.

TORONTO, May 3 (Reuters) – Manulife Financial profit unexpectedly rose 22 percent in the first quarter on market-related gains and insurance sales, and the company said it had hired a new chief financial officer to replace the soon-to-depart Michael Bell.

Canada’s largest insurer earned C$1.2 billion ($1.21 billion), or 66 Canadian cents a share, in the quarter. Analysts had expected it to earn 36 Canadian cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The result marked a reversal from losses in the second half of 2011, and was up from the company’s 2011 first-quarter profit of C$985 million, or 54 Canadian cents a share.

“It was a big beat, obviously,” said National Bank Financial analyst Peter Routledge.

Still, the company said it could take a charge of C$700-C$800 million in the second quarter, to reflect the impact of lower bond yields on the company’s long-term investment expectations.

Routledge had expected a charge, but not such a steep one.

“We were at C$550 million heading into the quarter, so they’re going to take a bigger charge than we thought,” he said.