ATB Financial said Wednesday that performance pay for its senior executives will be cut after it reported a profit of $6.4 million for its most recent financial year, weighed down by a $224.8-million charge related to asset-backed commercial paper. The Alberta financial institution said the profit for the 12 months ended March 31 compared with a profit of $30 million the previous year, or $283.1 million before a charge for ABCP that year.

Operating revenue, excluding ABCP, was $907.0 million, up 7.3 per cent from last year.

ATB President and CEO Dave Mowat said senior executives’ performance pay will be adjusted as a result of ATB’s decrease in net income. The bank said because of its net income forecast for 2009-10, performance pay will be reduced by at least 25 per cent for associates and at least 50 per cent for senior executives.

Operating profits down in first quarter: Statscan

Lower revenues are being blamed as Canadian corporations report operating profits of $55.1 billion in the first quarter of 2009, down 11.8 per cent from the previous quarter. Statistics Canada reports declines were prevalent across the economy as 18 of 22 industries reported lower profits. Profits in the non-financial industries fell 12.6 per cent to $41 billion, while profits in the financial industries contracted 9.3 per cent to $14.1 billion. The agency says lower profits were mainly attributable to oil-and-gas extractors and manufacturers. Oil-and-gas extractors earned $4.3 billion in operating profits, down 33.5 per cent from the fourth quarter of 2008. Petroleum and coal products manufacturers’ profits also decreased, down 24.4 per cent to $1.8 billion. Manufacturers earned $8 billion in operating profits in the first quarter, down 15.1 per cent from the previous quarter. The bulk of the decrease came in the petroleum and coal industry.