Source: The Canadian Press

CIBC (TSX:CM) reported net income of $660 million for its second quarter but the bank still missed analyst expectations.

The bank’s profit was worth $1.59 per share, compared to a $51-million loss during the comparable period last year, or 24 cents per share, when the Canadian banking sector was feeling the impact of a global credit crisis.

Cash earnings per share was $1.61, compared with a loss of 21 cents a year earlier, or $1.46 per share after adjusting for items of note.

Analysts had been looking for adjusted cash EPS to be $1.50, according to estimates compiled by Thomson Reuters.

CIBC’s provisions for credit losses fell to the lowest level since the second quarter of 2009.

“Credit quality continued to improve during the second quarter,” CIBC president and CEO Gerry McCaughey said on a conference call with analysts.

“Specific provisions in our consumer portfolios were down $29 million from (the first quarter), driven by lower loses in cards and personal banking.”

The provisions totalled $334 million, down about $30 million from the first quarter of 2010 but up from $325 million in the second quarter of 2009.

Total revenue from all business segments was $2.9 billion, down slightly from the previous quarter but up from $2.2 billion in the first quarter of 2009.

Most of the revenue came from CIBC’s domestic retail business, which reported a 5% increase to $2.3 billion, while net income rose to $487 million from $434 million.

Its wholesale banking division posted net income of $189 million, turning around a $345 million loss in the comparable quarter.