Canadian Western Bank Battered By Worries About Funding And Loan Growth

It hasn’t been a great year for Canadian banks in general, with the best performer Toronto-Dominion (TD) down about 5% year-to-date. It’s been far, far worse for Canadian Western (OTCPK:CBWBF), though, as the shares have lost nearly one-third of their value on rising worries about funding and the sustainability of healthy loan growth. To that end, I’d note that peer Laurentian Bank (OTCPK:LRCDF), which also focuses on business lending, is down a similar amount.

I was wrong about Canadian Western earlier this year. While I had concerns about the bank’s deposit mix (unsustainable in my view) and dependence on business loan demand growth, I underestimated how quickly and how significantly sentiment would shift. Although the shares do look undervalued now, funding risk is still present, and it’s hard to get excited about a bank with weak core funding, weak operating leverage, and some adverse exposure to energy prices.

Click here for more:
Canadian Western Bank Battered By Worries About Funding And Loan Growth