Net Interest Income Growth Still Not Showing Up for Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce in Q1

Narrow-moat-rated Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, or CIBC, reported mixed fiscal first-quarter earnings. We expect this quarter and ultimately this year to be a bit of a transition year for the Canadian banks. Loan growth is likely to slow, more credit strain is likely to emerge, and net interest income remains in a state of flux as rate changes slowly feed through the balance sheets. Many of these patterns were present for CIBC in the quarter, with loan growth slowing to less than 1% sequentially, write-offs and delinquencies marching a bit higher, and net interest income, or NII, still struggling to show much growth (up only half a percent sequentially). CIBC is the first of the major Canadian banks to report, so we don't have much data for peer comparisons yet, but we would imagine some of these trends will appear for other banks as well, although NII growth may be stronger for some peers. The second half of the year will be a key moment for CIBC, as management expects NII growth and NIM expansion will accelerate, which would be a change of pace from the current trends.