01:02 PM EST - CIBC : reported a surge in first quarter profits, as the banking firm boosted its quarterly dividends by 10 per cent to 77 cents per share. With CIBC exceeding last year's cost-cutting targets, the bank announced it may even consider further dividend increases later this year. Yesterday's report stated that CIBC’s first-quarter profits of $770 million or $2.11 per share, was up from $580 million or $1.62 million in the comparable year-ago quarter in part due to lighter loan loss provisions and taxes. CIBC
shares T.CM are trading down 15 cents at $100.37.
