Regarding TD's PE ratio, as reported by S&P and others, I think the problem may be that they take the TD price in US dollars as reported on trading on NYSE, and divide by earnings in Canadian $. So of course the result is wrong. AOL quotes does this, and also gets the dividend % wrong by using the same "method" I think AOL quotes gets their info from S&P/Comstock.
You can find the Jack White story by researching TD on the research section in Waterhouse on line brokerage. Here is another story I found recently. I think it is only a matter of time until TD combines with or is taken over by another Bank. What I am hoping for is a take over by a US or other non-Canadian bank, as I think this would fetch us the highest price
TORONTO, April 7 (Reuters) - The mega-merger of Citicorp <CCI.N> and Travelers Group Inc. <TRV.N> will pressure Canada to approve the combination of two of its biggest banks and may help spark further consolidation in the Canadian industry.
Analysts said the U.S. deal could accelerate Canadian banking industry mergers, which have been largely put on hold while investors wait for Finance Minister Paul Martin to rule on the proposed merger of Royal Bank of Canada <RY.TO> and Bank of Montreal <BMO.TO>.
"It has to impact the goverment's musings. I think it would increase the pressure. But I would put it another way. It might be difficult for them to explain why they wouldn't approve it," said Mark Maxwell, banking analyst at CIBC Wood Gundy Securities Inc.
The proposed $80 billion Citicorp-Travelers merger announced on Monday would create a company with 100 million customers and $698 billion in assets.
The deal dwarfs the C$46.5 billion merger proposed in January by Royal and Bank of Montreal, which would still be the biggest corporate merger in Canadian history.
Analysts said the U.S. deal adds validity to the argument of the major Canadian banks that their competitors are growing so large through worldwide consolidation that Canadian banks must merge to just to be able to play in the same league.
"It does put a further reflection on the need to be strategically positioned to compete in an extremely competitive industry," said Kevin Choquette, a banking analyst with Levesque Beaubien Geoffrion
Speculation had already abounded about further mergers in Canada's banking industry after the Royal-Bank of Montreal deal. But most analysts had expected banks to hold off announcing any other deals before September.
That is when a government-appointed task force on probing the future of the financial services industry in Canada will report its findings.
Canada's Finance Minister Martin said in January he would not rule on the merger until he received the task force's recommendations.
These will include whether Canada's six biggest commercial banks should be allowed to merge with one another, and whether the government should maintain its rule that no one may own more than 10 percent of a Canadian bank.
Given the significance of the Citicorp-Travelers deal, analysts said Canada's big banks are likely to jump the gun and put forward more proposed mergers before September.
"It puts pressure to look at a lot of different options, including mergers with foreign banks," said one Toronto-based analyst. "If banks are aiming to maximize shareholder value, I would say that they'll get more value out of a foreign takeover than they will out of a domestic merger."
CIBC's Maxwell said the U.S. megamerger has increased the likelihood of a foreign takeover as well as another possible combination between Canada other major banks, including Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce <CM.TO>, Bank of Nova Scotia <BNS.TO>, and Toronto-Dominion Bank <TD.TO>.
"You could do a pooling of three, and you might have yourself one powerful global company," he said.
Indeed, Toronto-Dominion Bank chief executive Charles Baillie said in a newspaper interview he is now "more open" to the idea of merging with another Canadian bank.
18:01 04-07-98
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