Canada’s big banks likely to give insight on economic recovery this week: analysts

Canada’s largest banks will report their quarterly financial results this week, and analysts say they will be listening for hints as to how bank executives view the economic recovery from COVID-19.

John Aiken, head of research at Barclays in Canada, says that Canadian bank leaders will likely give insights on how the economy is recovering in different sectors, such as an uptick mortgage borrowing, or softening credit card spending or small business loans.

Scotiabank and BMO kick off bank earnings on Tuesday, while RBC and National Bank will report on Wednesday, followed by CIBC and TD Bank Group on Thursday.

Aiken expects the banks to post “solid” quarterly financial results, despite the ongoing COVID-19 related lockdowns.

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Aiken says Bay Street will be looking to see how the banks not only weather the pandemic and keep costs at bay, but create areas of new growth, such as operations in the U.S. or Latin America.

Robert Colangelo, a senior vice president of the global financial institutions group at DBRS Morningstar, says auto loans could be a growing portfolio at some Canadian banks, and the wealth management business could also be a hot topic amid rising capital markets.