22 June 2007

Blackmont Capital Comments on RBC's Insurance Operations

  
Financial Post, Jonathan Ratner, 22 June 2007

After a luncheon hosted by Blackmont Capital, where Royal Bank of Canada’s head of domestic banking and global insurance, Jim Westlake, spoke about the importance of scale in achieving growth and profitability in Canada’s property and casualty insurance market, analyst Brad Smith continues to be optimistic about RBC’s prospects.

Mr. Westlake highlighted how RBC’s diversified insurance offerings have created cross-selling opportunities and growth, Mr. Smith told clients in a note.

Due to his expectations for growth in core domestic property and casualty banking, Mr. Smith thinks other domestic banks will continue to grow more interested in insurance.

RBC’s “formidable scale, distribution and brand will lead to strong future profit growth,” he said, reiterating his “buy” recommendation and $65 price target.
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