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“In the first quarter, we delivered solid performance across our strategic business units,” CIBC chief executive Victor Dodig said in a statement. “We continue to make progress on our strategy to build a client-focused North American bank with diversified earnings growth and disciplined expense and capital management while delivering superior shareholder returns.”

Canada’s fifth-largest lender raised its quarterly payment to common shareholders by four cents to $1.40.

The Toronto-based bank’s earnings for the three-month period ended Jan. 31 amounted to $2.60 per diluted share, down from $2.95 during the same period a year earlier.

On an adjusted basis, CIBC earned $3.01 per share, down from $3.18 a year ago and below the $3.08 expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters Eikon.

Its capital markets division saw a steep year-over-year decline, down $121 million or 38 per cent to net income of $201 million driven by lower revenue and a higher provision for credit losses, or money set aside for bad loans.

The lender’s Canadian personal and small business banking arm reported net income dropped 29 per cent, or $193 million, during the quarter from a year earlier to $463 million. However, excluding certain one-time items, the division’s adjusted net income was $632 million, down $26 million or four per cent from the same period in 2018.

CIBC’s domestic commercial banking and wealth management saw net income increase by two per cent to $319 million, primarily driven by higher revenue and lower expenses.