Bank of Montreal 2002 Annual Report Download - page 5

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BMO FINANCIAL GROUP ANNUAL REPORT
2002
1
STRENGTH IN A TIME OF ADVERSITY
Message to Fellow Shareholders
from the Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer,
Tony Comper
Key Points of
BMO’s Transnational
Growth Strategy
▪Invest in our core
Canadian franchise.
▪Expand selectively
and substantially in
the United States.
We passed two milestones as 2002 drew to a close, a dynamic intersection of
our past and our future. Looking into our proud history, we celebrated our
185th anniversary and our track record as the longest-running dividend-
paying company in Canada. Casting forward, we unified our diverse busi-
nesses under the umbrella of BMO Financial Group, our new name for a
new century and a reminder that “bank,” in its past sense, describes only
one part of the enterprise we are building in the service of our customers.
A Year of Accomplishments
Leading the list of accomplishments for the year were solid financial
results. Despite challenging market conditions, cash earnings per share were
$2.91 excluding non-recurring items
–
an 8.6% increase from the previous
year. We met our annual profit targets, achieved top-tier performance in
loan loss provisions, and continued to contain costs.
After persevering over the past few years in making the changes
necessary to boost performance, our relative financial performance showed
significant improvement as, for example, BMO moved from sixth to second
among Canada’s major banks in earnings per share growth. This organiza-
tion’s trademark prudence, focus and discipline have enabled us to demon-
strate strength to shareholders in a time of adversity for our industry.
Also high on the list of accomplishments in 2002 was the early success
of our transnational growth strategy, which is to continue investing in our
core Canadian operations while expanding selectively and substantially in
the United States. BMO Financial Group has established its credentials as
the original Canada-U.S. bank, doing successful business across a truly
North American economic space.