Bank of Montreal 2004 Annual Report Download - page 7

BMO Financial Group Annual Report 2004 3
Chief Executive Officer’s Message to Shareholders
And, quite frankly, because we can: We have never
been more ready for this next phase in our evolution
nor better prepared on all fronts – starting with the
new heights of performance we have already begun
to achieve.
BMO increased earnings per share by 29% in
2004, placing second in our Canadian peer group.
Indeed, as the accompanying chart shows, we
performed remarkably well against all of our financial
targets for the year. As detailed on page 6, we also
surpassed our major Canadian competitors in 71%
of the key performance measures, a very significant
improvement from the previous year. And, in a vote
of confidence in our ability to sustain healthy growth,
we announced not one but two dividend increases
during the year, for an overall dividend increase of
26%. What is more, we have delivered an average
total shareholder return of 18.9% a year over the
past five years.
None of these successes happened “overnight,”
of course. They trace their roots back to the hard
decisions this leadership took back in 1999, exiting
businesses where we lacked scale, selling off lower-
profit properties and sacrificing substantial revenues
for several years as we rebuilt BMO into an organi-
zation that is now ready to make a serious run at
becoming the best performer in the industry. “Best”
is another word, along with “top,” that has begun
to fit nicely into our day-to-day vocabulary. By having
the best people and talent management, and the
best enabling systems and processes, we will deliver
the best client experience of all of our peers, and
by so doing, put up the best financial performance,
resulting in the best returns for shareholders.
When I speak of delivering the best client experi-
ence, I’m talking about developing relationships with
customers that will flourish over a lifetime. As I have
stated in past annual reports, in a mature, highly com-
petitive financial services marketplace like Canada,
exceptional customer service is the only sure way to
grow. Accordingly we have been preparing ourselves
for this challenge for five years now, investing as
never before in customer-focused technology and
training, and developing the kind of enterprise-wide
mindset that will result in top performance.
Given that our number-one priority for the past
two years has been to improve productivity, I am
pleased to report that in 2004 we moved up to second
Tony Comper
President and Chief Executive Officer
Fellow Shareholders:
What’s next for BMO Financial Group is a disciplined reach for the top, to
become nothing less than the top performer across the North American
financial services industry. We are setting the bar this high because, quite
simply, it is our surest way of securing this organization’s future.