Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, one of the largest shareholders in Butterfield Bank, beat analyst profit estimates with its second-quarter earnings yesterday.CIBC, which has a 19 percent stake in Butterfield, said profit for the quarter ended April 30 rose 5.7 percent on consumer lending gains, from C$811 million ($790 million), or C$1.90 a share, compared with C$767 million, or C$1.80 a share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 2.3 percent to C$3.08 billion.CIBC’s corporate unit, which includes international banking operations comprising mainly of Butterfield, CIBC FirstCaribbean and CIBC Mellon, had profit of C$45 million, down from C$58 million. Canada’s banks were active international acquirers in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.CIBC joins Canada’s other banks in posting higher profit from consumer lending, as record-low interest rates fuelled borrowing.Analysts and investors anticipate domestic banking profit growth at banks will slow in the second half of 2012 as Canadians with record-high household debt pare borrowing.Consumer lending and business banking earnings climbed 12 percent to C$556 million, as mortgages, deposits and business loans rose.Net interest margin, or the difference between what a bank charges for loans and pays in deposits, widened to 2.56 percent from 2.52 percent in the first quarter, after the lender shifted from broker mortgages to more profitable CIBC-branded home loans sold in branches.The bank said it continues to “explore strategic options, including a potential sale” of its FirstLine Mortgages broker brand.CIBC said economic growth should be “modest” in Canada and the US this year, with gross domestic product gains of about two percent in Canada and slightly higher in the US.