EQB reports fourth quarter and fiscal 2025 results

TORONTO, Dec. 3, 2025 /CNW/ - EQB Inc. (TSX: EQB) today reported financial results for the fourth quarter and the fiscal year ended October 31, 2025.

"Fiscal 2025 was a difficult year for EQB. We responded by announcing a one-time restructuring program in the fourth quarter which drove a charge of $92 million pre-tax. This significantly improves our cost structure and creates a foundation for better efficiency, operating leverage and ROE," said Chadwick Westlake, President and CEO. "Our new leadership team is focused on growing our core franchise, rapidly accelerating our Challenger Bank products and expanding our capabilities for the benefit of all Canadians. The transformative announcement of the acquisition of PC Financial and strategic partnership with Loblaw adds further strength to our outlook and complements the many great organic opportunities we have as a diversified Canadian lender and owner of EQ Bank, the top banking brand in Canada now nearing $10 billion in deposits. With our strong talent, capital and technology, combined with prudent and disciplined risk and cost management, our goal is to deliver lasting value for our stakeholders as a customer-first disruptor."    

• Adjusted diluted EPS¹: Q4 $1.53 (-39% y/y) and FY25 $8.90 (-19% y/y) (reported Q4 ($0.25) and FY25 $6.65)
• Adjusted net income¹: Q4 $63.5 million (-37% y/y) and FY25 $354.2 million (-19% y/y) (reported Q4 ($4.8 million) and FY25 $266.6 million)
• Adjusted PPPT²: Q4 $143.1 million (-17% y/y) and FY25 $617.7 million (-11% y/y) (reported Q4 $55.6 million and FY25 $508.9 million)
• Adjusted ROE¹: Q4 7.5% and FY25 11.3% (reported Q4 (1.2%) and FY25 8.5%)
• Adjusted revenue¹: Q4 $308.1 million (-4% y/y) and FY25 $1.26 billion (-1% y/y) (reported Q4 $317.1 million and FY25 $1.26 billion)
• Adjusted net interest margin (NIM)^1,3: Q4 2.01% and FY25 2.07%, (-8 bps y/y) (reported Q4 2.17% and FY25 2.11%)
• Book value per share:$81.31, +5% y/y
• Total AUM + AUA³:$138 billion, +1% q/q +9% y/y
• EQ Bankcustomers: 607,000, +4% q/q and +18% y/y
• Common share dividends declared:$0.57 per share, +4% q/q and +16% y/y
• Capital: CET1 ratio of 13.3% and total capital ratio of 15.8%

Strong lending growth with loans under management (LUM) up 10% y/y   

• In Commercial Banking, total LUM grew +20% y/y, reflecting and highlighting strength in the insured multi-unit residential portfolio, resilience of the insured lending platform and market leading position. The strong risk profile of this portfolio was retained with more than 80% of total LUM being insured under CMHC programs
• In Personal Banking, the single-family uninsured portfolio grew +4% y/y as healthy customer retention and renewal rates offset the impact of steady, but subdued, origination levels in a less active housing market. The decumulation lending portfolio (reverse mortgages and insurance lending) grew +36% y/y to $2.9 billion, with market share gains supported by demographic trends including the movement to age in place

EQ Bank: deposits increased to nearly $10 billion and welcomed 21,000 new retail and business customers in Q4, +18% y/y

• EQ Bank deposits accelerated in FY25, closing the year at nearly $10 billion ($9.9 billion, +10% y/y) now with 607,000 total customers, +18% y/y. Deposit growth was generated by continued demand for EQ Bank's innovative products such as its Notice Savings Account, payroll deposit program and new Business Banking platform that fundamentally improves competitive choice in banking
• Business Banking platform was launched in Q4 with a healthy product release pipeline. The platform was enthusiastically received by small business customers drawn to a differentiated, all-digital offering that provides greater value
• EQ Bank named top banking brand in Canada and North American by Financial Times' leading magazine on international finance, The Banker, for its compelling brand story, momentum and likelihood of growing market share

Prudent provisioning accounts for current macroeconomic headwinds 

• EQB's adjusted provision for credit losses (PCL) was $132 million in FY25 (reported $137 million) as higher impairments and performing allowances in the personal and commercial portfolios were driven by weaker housing market and uncertainty associated with GDP and unemployment versus a year ago. This was partly offset by lower equipment financing PCL
• The Bank is appropriately reserved for credit losses with net allowances as a percentage of total loan assets of 41 bps, compared to 32 bps at Q4 2024. The increase was across all segments and driven by prudent provisioning against the performing loan book considering elevated macroeconomic uncertainty

Expense growth and operating leverage proactively addressed by decisive Q4 restructuring program

• Executed strategic restructuring and streamlining program to enhance flexibility, improve efficiency and align costs to high-impact initiatives where EQB can generate strong ROE and growth
• Final restructuring, severance and impairment charges totalled $92 million pre-tax, composed of $22.7 million in severance costs and $69.3 million in non-operating asset impairment charges
• EQB's adjusted efficiency ratio for 2025 was 50.9%, +5.7% y/y (reported 59.7%, +12.4% y/y)

Dividend increase, share buybacks reflect disciplined approach to returning capital to shareholders

• EQB declared a dividend of $0.57 per common share payable on December 31, 2025, to shareholders of record as of December 15, 2025, representing a 16% increase from the dividend paid in December 2024 and a 4% increase from the dividend paid in September 2025
• EQB purchased and cancelled 1,023,748 common shares through its active Normal Course Issue Bid (NCIB) and intends to renew its NCIB in FY26 to support attractive return of capital for shareholders⁴

"EQB has three financial priorities for fiscal 2026: drive growth, thoughtfully manage expenses and maintain strong risk management practices," said Anilisa Sainani, CFO. "Recent targeted actions to manage expense growth along with prudent credit provisioning create the foundation to deliver on these priorities. Core business growth will come from disciplined organic initiatives to expand our lending market share positions and serve our EQB customers, both retail and business, with differentiated digital products. We expect to significantly bolster these organic growth opportunities with the announcement to acquire PC Financial and strategic partnership with Loblaw. In all our actions, we are committed to creating shareholder value."

Analyst conference call and webcast: 10:30 a.m. ET on December 4, 2025

EQB's Chadwick Westlake, President and CEO, Anilisa Sainani, CFO, and Marlene Lenarduzzi, CRO, will host EQB's annual earnings call and webcast. The listen-only webcast with accompanying slides will be available at eqb.investorroom.com. To access the conference call with operator assistance, dial 416-945-7677 five minutes prior to the start time.

CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Consolidated balance sheets

Consolidated statements of income

Consolidated statements of comprehensive income

Consolidated statements of changes in equity

Consolidated statements of cash flows

About EQB Inc.  

EQB Inc. (TSX: EQB) is a leading digital financial services company with $138 billion in combined assets under management and administration (as at October 31, 2025). It offers banking services through Equitable Bank, a wholly owned subsidiary and Canada's seventh largest bank by assets, and wealth management through ACM Advisors, a majority owned subsidiary specializing in alternative assets. As Canada's Challenger Bank™, Equitable Bank has a clear mission to drive change in Canadian banking to enrich people's lives. It leverages technology to deliver exceptional personal and commercial banking experiences and services to nearly 780,000 customers and more than six million credit union members through its businesses. Through its digital EQ Bank platform (eqbank.ca) its customers have named it one of Canada's top banks on the Forbes World's Best Banks list since 2021. 

Please visit eqb.investorroom.com for more details or connect with us on LinkedIn.

Investor contact: 
Lemar Persaud
VP and Head of IR
investor_enquiry@eqb.com 

Media contact: 
Maggie Hall 
Director, PR & Communications
maggie.hall@eqb.com

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Statements made by EQB in the sections of this news release, in other filings with Canadian securities regulators and in other communications include forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws (forward-looking statements). These statements include, but are not limited to, statements about EQB's objectives, strategies and initiatives, financial performance expectation, statements with respect to EQB's intention to renew and/or make share repurchases under its NCIB, and other statements made herein, whether with respect to EQB's businesses or the Canadian economy. Generally, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "intends", "scheduled", "planned", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases which state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved", or other similar expressions of future or conditional verbs. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements relating to the expected impact of the Acquisition (as defined herein), the anticipated benefits of the Acquisition, including the expected impact on EQB's size, operations, capabilities, growth drivers and opportunities, activities, attributes, profile, business services portfolio and loans, revenue and assets mix, market position, profitability, performance, and strategy; the expected impact of the Acquisition on EQB's financial performance; expectations regarding EQB's business model, plans and strategy, the maintenance of CET1 ratio and changes in adjusted EPS; retention of PC Financial management and employees and the strategic fit and complementarity of PC Financial and Equitable Bank; anticipated synergies and estimated transaction and integration costs and the timing of incurrence thereof, as well as EQB's financial performance objectives, vision and strategic goals, the economic and market review and outlook, the regulatory environment in which we operate, the outlook and priorities for each of its business lines, the risk environment including liquidity and funding risk, and statements by EQB representatives.

Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, closing of transactions, performance or achievements of EQB to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to risks related to capital markets and additional funding requirements, fluctuating interest rates and general economic conditions including, without limitation global geopolitical risk, uncertainty arising from ongoing United States/Canada tariff concerns and related impacts, business acquisition, legislative and regulatory developments, changes in accounting standards, the nature of our customers and rates of default, the successful and timely approval of the Acquisition, the integration of PC Financial and the realization of the anticipated benefits and synergies of the Acquisition in the timeframe anticipated, including impact and accretion in various financial metrics; the ability to retain management and key employees of PC Financial; and competition as well as those factors discussed under the heading "Risk Management" in EQB's Q4 Management's Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) and in EQB's documents filed on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.

All material assumptions used in making forward-looking statements are based on management's knowledge of current business conditions and expectations of future business conditions and trends, including their knowledge of the current credit, interest rate and liquidity conditions affecting EQB and the Canadian economy. Although EQB believes the assumptions used to make such statements are reasonable at this time and has attempted to identify in its continuous disclosure documents important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Certain material assumptions are applied by EQB in making forward-looking statements, including without limitation, assumptions regarding its continued ability to fund its mortgage business, a continuation of the current level of economic uncertainty that affects real estate market conditions, continued acceptance of its products in the marketplace, as well as no material changes in its operating cost structure and the current tax regime. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. EQB does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that are contained herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

Non-Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) Financial Measures and Ratios

To enable readers to better assess trends in underlying business performance and increase consistency with the reporting regimens used by other leading Canadian financial institutions, EQB provides adjusted results in parallel with reported measures. Adjusted results are non-GAAP financial measures that enable readers to assess underlying business results and trends. Adjustments listed below are presented on a pre-tax basis:

2025

• $17.7 million decrease in net interest income due to non-recurring fair value adjustments on covered bonds and interest on securitizations;
• $92.0 million final restructuring, severance and impairment charges as outlined in the Key corporate events section of this report, of which $12.8 million reflects impairments on non-operating assets related to the Equipment financing business and $79.2 million of restructuring charges including goodwill and intangible asset impairments and severance provisions;
• $8.7 million non-recurring transaction fees;
• $7.9 million Concentra Bank and ACM acquisition related intangible asset amortization;
• $7.0 million new office lease related costs prior to occupancy;
• $6.5 million professional fees related to the Acquisition;
• $2.6 million accelerated long-term incentive expense following the former CEO's passing;
• $1.8 million non-recurring operational effectiveness expenses and acquisition and integration-related costs; and
• $5.0 million provision for credit losses associated with an equipment financing purchase facility.

2024

• $8.8 million covered bond fair value adjustments;
• $9.3 million Concentra Bank and ACM acquisition related intangible asset amortization;
• $2.2 million new office lease related costs prior to occupancy;
• $11.2 million non-recurring operational effectiveness expenses and acquisition and integration-related costs associated with Concentra and ACM; and
• $16.1 million provision for credit losses associated with an equipment financing purchase facility; and
• $1.7 million provision for credit losses due to a one-time change in ECL methodology from five to four economic scenarios and adjusting associated weights.

The following table presents a reconciliation of GAAP reported financial results to non-GAAP adjusted financial results.

Other non-GAAP financial measures and ratios:

• Adjusted efficiency ratio: it is derived by dividing adjusted non-interest expenses by adjusted revenue. A lower adjusted efficiency ratio reflects a more efficient cost structure
• Adjusted return on equity (ROE) is calculated on an annualized basis and is defined as adjusted net income available to common shareholders as a percentage of weighted average common shareholders' equity (reported) outstanding during the period.
• Assets under administration (AUA): is sum of (1) assets over which EQB's subsidiaries have been named as trustee, custodian, executor, administrator, or other similar role; (2) loans held by credit unions for which EQB's subsidiaries act as servicer.
• Assets under management (AUM): is the sum of total balance sheet assets, loan principal derecognized but still managed by EQB, and assets managed on behalf on investors.
• Loans under management (LUM): is the sum of loan principal reported on the consolidated balance sheet and loan principal derecognized but still managed by EQB.
• Net interest margin (NIM): this profitability measure is calculated on an annualized basis by dividing net interest income by the average total interest earning assets for the period.
• Pre-provision pre-tax income (PPPT): this is the difference between revenue and non-interest expenses.
• Total loan assets: this is calculated on a gross basis (prior to allowance for credit losses) as the sum of both Loans – Personal and Loans – Commercial on the balance sheet.

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SOURCE EQB Inc.