This content is not available due to your privacy preferences.The lenders could see bad loans climb with a potential recession looming, Aiken says, and capital markets activity could wane in the coming quarter.
"While we continue to see long-term value in Canadian banks and are not concerned with their solvency, we do anticipate near-term pressures will continue to mount and weigh on sentiment. Thus, our rating changes could be short term in nature, should the economy prove to be more resilient than we anticipate, or if a recession is reasonably shallow and the outlook shifts to a more 'normalized' 2024 than the concerns of credit on 2023 earnings and capital," Aiken said.
Investors will also likely be treated to dividend hikes in the second quarter, Aiken says, but share buybacks will be on the back burner in order to rein in expenses.