National Bank of Canada

All participants, thank you for standing by. The conference is ready to begin. Good morning and welcome to National Bank of Canada's third quarter results conference call. I would now like to turn the meeting over to Marianne Raté, Vice President and Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, Marianne.

Thank you and welcome everyone. We will begin the call with remarks from Laurent Ferreira, President and CEO, Marie-Chantal Gingras, CFO, and Jean-Sébastien Griset, Chief Risk Officer. Our business heads are also present for the Q&A session, including Lucie Blanchet, Personal Banking, Judith Menard, Commercial and Private Banking, Michael Denham, CWB Integration, Nancy Paquette, Wealth Management, Etienne Duc, Financial Markets, and Del Bonel, International. Before we begin, please refer to slide two of our presentation for forward-looking statements and non-GAAP measures. Management will refer to adjusted results unless otherwise noted. I will now pass the call to Laurent.

Merci, Marianne, and thank you, everyone, for joining us. This morning, we reported earnings per share of $2.68 and return on equity of 14% for the third quarter of 2025. Our results reflect strong revenue fundamentals across our segments, firm traction in costs and funding synergies as we integrate CWB and a strong credit performance. We also ended the quarter with a CET1 ratio of 13.9%. This solid capital position provides us with ample flexibility and optionality. This morning, we announced our intention to repurchase up to 8 million shares. Our decision to buy back shares at this point in time does not factor in benefits from CWB's AIRB conversion. We'll also review our dividend next quarter as per usual practice. Turning to the economy. The Canadian economy has shown some resilience, but has been strained by tariff uncertainty, resulting in job losses in certain industries and an overall softer labor market. The USMCA trade agreement has been so far an effective safeguard for Canada. The full impact of tariffs is still unfolding, and will continue to shape business confidence and investments. While the path of inflation and of long-term rates remain uncertain due to tariffs and growing government deficits, we have a more constructive view on the economy now that the initial terror shock is behind us and that trade tensions are de-escalating. We are also encouraged by the focus of our federal and provincial governments on making structural changes to increase productivity and economic resilience. Investments in energy security and nation-building infrastructure will stimulate growth and put us on the right path. As we look ahead, geopolitics and geoeconomics remain a source of instability, but we are encouraged by some of the positive outcomes of trade negotiations and the government focus on the Canadian economy. Turning to the CWB integration, I am very pleased with our momentum and strong execution. Funding and cost synergies continue to progress at a rapid pace. Earlier this month, we marked an integration milestone with the successful completion of our first client migrations onto the national bank platform. On that, I would like to recognize our teams who are working seamlessly together to ensure a positive onboarding experience for clients. Our migration process will continue over the months ahead, setting the table for revenue synergies, which we will discuss in more detail on our Q4 call. Looking now at our business segments. P&C Banking generated net income of $386 million, including $74 million from the CWB transaction for the third quarter. Excluding CWB, revenues were up 2% year over year for the segment against a strong level of non-interest income in the prior year. We continue to grow our balance sheet. Our commercial loan growth grew 13% year over year with continued opportunities in insured residential real estate and broad-based growth across our industries and geographies. Personal mortgages grew 5% year over year with strong origination level as anticipated entering the second half of the year. Wealth management grew third quarter net income by 13% year-over-year on the back of strong organic growth. Net sales in our channels and rising equity markets reported double-digit growth in fee-based revenues. Financial markets generated strong quarterly results, growing net income by 5%, over the past year. Corporate and investment banking delivered record revenues of $408 million for Q3. This was driven by strong performance across the franchise and a particularly active order for our M&A and DCMTs. Global markets performance was resilient, growing revenues 3% year-over-year. This reflects broad-based growth in our rates and commodities businesses, while equity trading activity and volatility was down quarter over quarter. Credit G delivered net income of $43 million this quarter, up 2% year over year. While average assets remained relatively stable sequentially, investment volumes picked up at quarter end, resulting in balances increasing 5% quarter over quarter. The market remains competitive, but we are starting to see more deal flow and opportunities that meet our investment criteria, including a solid pipeline for Q4. At ABA Bank, net income increased by 16% year-over-year. Deposits were up 21%, supported by a 34% increase in client growth, and loans were up 8%. We are encouraged by the favorable outcome of a trade deal between the US and Cambodia, which will keep the local economy competitive and set the stage for continued growth. I will now pass the call to Marie-Champagne.