Bank of Montreal 2004 Annual Report Download - page 9

BMO Financial Group Annual Report 2004 5
we can indeed be at the top of our class. After all,
most of our current workforce has already seen
us through five years of momentous change and
major redefinition, so the appetite for more change
has already been whetted.
In acknowledging people who have put BMO in
contention for top performer, I should also include
those responsible for our industry-pacing corporate
governance practices. As I hope stakeholders noticed,
we tied for second in The Globe and Mail’s annual
governance survey, only one point behind the winner
and ahead of all our Canadian bank peers. Rest assured
that we will continue to take leadership in all matters
of governance, just as we will hold firm to the low-risk
high-return management philosophy of recent years,
as illustrated in particular by our unsurpassed capabil -
ities in credit risk management, which played a
significant role in our strong performance in 2004.
That I can write with such confidence about
What’s Next for BMO in this annual report message
speaks volumes about the success of our Canada-
U.S. growth strategy. We continue to strengthen the
established businesses in our core Canadian fran-
chise, and to improve and selectively expand our U.S.
franchise in personal and business, mid-market
and individual investing markets.
We anticipate that earnings growth throughout
the Canadian financial services industry will moderate
in 2005 from the high levels of 2004 as we move past
the peak in credit recoveries toward a more normal
stage of the credit cycle. We have therefore set a real-
istic earnings-per-share growth target for 2005 of
3% to 8% off a base of $4.21 per share, which excludes
the gain of 21 cents per share in 2004 related to
reductions in the general allowance for credit losses.
In Canada, the strategic priority in 2005 is to build
on existing strengths such as our leadership in com-
mercial banking and investment banking in order to
improve productivity through operational efficiency
and increased market share. In the United States,
the priorities are to continue our intense focus on
improving business performance, and to accelerate
growth through operational improvements, organic
growth, new branch openings, our mid-market
expertise, and continued retail banking acquisitions.
In fiscal 2004, we agreed to invest $560 million
in the acquisition of three community banks in
the greater Chicago area, moving us closer to our
goal of becoming the leading personal and business
bank in the U.S. Midwest. The most recent of these
perfect-fit purchases, Mercantile Bancorp in northwest
Indiana, was scheduled to close by early 2005.
We are starting to deliver on our promise to expand
the Harris branch network into the states surrounding
Illinois, and we intend to continue delivering on
this promise.
Our growth strategy is working as intended,
our transformation into a customer-driven, sales-
and-service organization is well advanced, our
short-term targets are realistic and, as our strong
performance in 2004 attests, BMO Financial Group
is on the way up. So it really isn’t any surprise
that – with great enthusiasm and all due diligence –
we have now re-set our sights on becoming our
industry’s top performer. Because we should.
And because we can.
Tony Comper
President and Chief Executive Officer
Our growth strategy is working as intended, our transformation
into a customer-driven sales-and-service organization is
well advanced, our short-term targets are realistic and, as our strong
performance in 2004 attests, BMO Financial Group is on the way up.