Bank of Montreal 2000 Annual Report Download - page 6

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2■Bank of Montreal Group of Companies Annual Review 2000
Year in Review
The Year in Review
The governing objective at the Bank
of Montreal Group of Companies is
to create value for our shareholders.
In the year 2000, we successfully —
and decidedly
—
achieved that goal.
We earned net income of $1,857 mil
-
lion, an increase of $475 million or
34.4% over 1999. Meanwhile, return
on equity for the year was 18%, up
from 14.1% the previous year. Fully
diluted earnings per share were
$6.56, up 39% from $4.72 in 1999.
In two crucial areas, we met
our financial objectives. In 2000,
our target was to increase earnings
per share by at least 10% from
a 1999 adjusted base of $5.14, and
to increase return on equity by
between 1.0% and 1.5% from a base
of 15.4%. In fact, earnings per share
rose 27.6% to $6.56 while return
on equity increased by 2.6 percentage
points to 18%.
Our success is cumulative.
Bank of Montreal has now delivered
11 consecutive years of earnings
growth. During the same time period,
we have achieved a return on equity
of at least 14%.
Such progress, we believe, is
a testament to our aggressive growth
strategy —onedrivenbyapassionate
commitment to “get it right” with
our customers.
Last year we continued to drive
volume growth in personal banking,
commercial and small business
banking and wealth management.
The success of this thrust is reflected
in our strong earnings performance.
Our performance also benefited
from our commitment to focus on
high-growth-potential businesses
while divesting low-potential
businesses, and maintaining good
credit quality and expense control.
For our business and our share-
holders, the success we reaped
in the year 2000 is excellent news.
It translates into a prosperous
present and, we firmly believe, an
even brighter, richer tomorrow.
By “getting it right” with customers and by implementing an aggressive growth
strategy, Bank of Montreal meets target expectations.
Net income increased
34.4%
from $1,382 million in 1999
to $1,857 million in 2000
Return on equity increased to
18%
in 2000 from 14.1% in 1999
Fully diluted earnings
per share increased
39%
from $4.72 in 1999 to $6.56 in 2000