CWB reports first quarter 2021 financial and strategic performance

Press Release

February 26, 2021

CWB Financial Group (TSX: CWB) (CWB) today announced financial performance for the three months ended January 31, 2021, with first quarter net income available to common shareholders of $79 million and adjusted earnings per common share of $0.93, up 25% and 24%, respectively, from the previous quarter. Pre-tax, pre-provision income was up 12% from the previous quarter and 9% from the same period in the prior year.

“We had a very strong start to the year, with our teams delivering first quarter financial performance that surpassed our expectations while continuing to execute on our strategic objectives,” said Chris Fowler, President and CEO. “Our financial results benefited from very strong branch-raised deposit growth, strong loan growth in Ontario, and a reduction in our performing loan provision for credit losses from an improvement in the near-term macroeconomic outlook. Based on the first quarter results and improved outlook, we now expect to deliver full year mid-single digit percentage growth of adjusted earnings per share while continuing to advance our strategic priorities.”

“Our strategy for growth is to expand full-service client relationships for both new and existing clients, which has been the primary driver of our very strong branch-raised deposit growth over the last two years. Growth in branch-raised deposits also lowers our funding costs, which helped support a two basis point sequential improvement in our net interest margin this quarter.”

“Our strategic execution has also positioned us to capture increased market share within a larger addressable market, despite ongoing economic uncertainty. We prudently grew our loan portfolio, and delivered very strong growth in our strategically targeted general commercial portfolio and in Ontario.”

“We remain growth-focused through ongoing business transformation and investments in digital capabilities to enhance our differentiated full-service client experience and position us to accelerate our growth as the economy recovers. With our launch of digital onboarding for all personal clients, new accounts can be opened virtually with the immediate ability to transact. We also continued our progress towards Advanced Internal Ratings Based (AIRB) approval. Incorporating the results of the 2021 parallel run of our AIRB tools and processes, we will resubmit our application to OSFI for review in the first half of 2022.”

“Looking forward, we will continue to prudently manage through the current economic uncertainty, while executing against our strategic priorities to drive broad-based growth as the economy recovers. Thanks to the continued efforts of our dedicated teams, we have a tremendous opportunity in front of us and we are executing to realize our full potential across Canada.”

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