CIBC profit slips to below $800 million

CIBC says its net income slipped to $798 million in the first quarter of its current financial year, down from $835 million a year earlier.

Among the items included in the quarter was a $148-million loss from the settlement of a contract dispute linked to the collapse of Lehman Bros. in 2008.

That item reduced CIBC's first-quarter profit by 27 cents per share.

Overall, however, the bank still managed to report a profit of $1.91 per share, just two cents below the profit in the first quarter of 2012.

CIBC's core retail and business banking division saw its net income rise to $611 million, up from $567 million a year earlier.

That was offset by a small dip at its wealth management division and a major decline in wholesale banking, primarily related to the Lehman settlement.