Likely BMO swan song shows trucking credit strengthening

BMO, formerly known as the Bank of Montreal, announced its plans to sell its transportation unit to private equity firm Stonepeak in May. The company's quarterly earnings, released on Tuesday, demonstrated the positive impact of the strengthening freight market on its credit conditions. While net writeoffs remained stable at $24 million, provisions and allowances for credit losses showed significant declines.

Provisions for credit losses dropped to $15 million from $41 million in the previous quarter, representing the lowest figure since the first quarter of 2023. Allowances for credit losses also decreased to $73 million from $86 million. Gross impaired loans fell to $440 million from $576 million, and the size of transportation group loan originations decreased to $11 million from the previous quarter's $114 million.

This indicates a strengthening freight market and the company's expectations of a reduced credit risk in its transportation business, which is estimated to account for 90% of its lending.