Banks Focus on Staff Cuts, Provisions for Bad Loans in Q4 Ahead of Uncertain 2024

Fewer employees and more money set aside for bad loans were two of the dominant themes of Canadian bank earnings this past quarter as they prepared for whatever may come next year. Fourth quarter results that wrapped on Dec. 1 showed the country’s banks were preparing for a potentially tougher road ahead, but also that fears around a recession look to be fading. The word hardly came up on earnings calls, with more talk instead of simply slower growth as the central bank rate hikes appear to have peaked and consumers on the whole are so far managing through higher payments....