National Bank of Canada Charts Course for Profitable Growth
At Scotiabank's 27th Annual Financials Summit, National Bank of Canada (NA) outlined its growth strategy focused on profitable expansion and selective capital deployment. CEO Laurent emphasized that the bank is not prioritizing aggressive pricing or market share gains, but rather targeting high-quality clients with strong balance sheets.
The bank reaffirmed its CET1 target of about 13% by the end of fiscal 2027 and an ROE above 17%. Capital Markets delivered record results for a third straight quarter, while Canadian P&C Banking saw some margin pressure due to faster mortgage growth than deposit growth.
Laurent highlighted Quebec as a key growth engine, with low consumer debt-to-income levels and savings rates about double the Canadian average. The bank reported $5.2 billion of mortgage growth in the quarter, with more than 70% coming from Quebec. National Bank is not pursuing mortgage growth as a pure volume strategy, but rather targeting clients with cross-sell potential.