BMO Financial Group Announces Intention to Repurchase Up to 15 Million of Its Common Shares

Toronto (ots/PRNewswire) -

Bank of Montreal (TSX: BMO)(NYSE: BMO) today announced its
intention, subject to the approval of the Office of the
Superintendent of Financial Institutions Canada (OSFI) and the
Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX), to purchase for cancellation up to 15
million of its common shares under a normal course issuer bid.
Purchases will be made through the facilities of the TSX and may also
be made through alternative Canadian trading systems or by such other
means as may be permitted by a securities regulatory authority,
including private agreements or share repurchase programs under
exemption orders issued by securities regulatory authorities
(Exemption Orders). Bank of Montreal (the Bank) intends to file a
notice of intention with the TSX in this regard.

Subject to regulatory approvals, the normal course issuer bid will
commence on or around June 1, 2019, and will end on or around May 31,
2020. The common shares that may be repurchased represent
approximately 2.4 per cent of the 'public float' (as such term is
defined in the TSX Company Manual) of common shares as at January 31,
2019. The timing and amount of any purchases under the program is
subject to regulatory approvals and to management discretion based on
factors such as market conditions. Except for any purchases made
under an Exemption Order, which will generally be at a discount to
the prevailing market price, the Bank will pay the market price for
the shares at the time of acquisition.

There were 638,403,636 Bank of Montreal common shares issued and
outstanding as at January 31, 2019, and the public float was
638,027,201 common shares.

BMO's current normal course issuer bid for the purchase of up to
20 million common shares commenced on June 1, 2018, and expires on
May 31, 2019. Under the current NCIB, as of February 1, 2019, BMO has
purchased and cancelled 3 million of its common shares on the open
market at a volume weighted average price of approximately $99.44 per
share.

Bank of Montreal's common shares are listed on both the Toronto
and New York stock exchanges.

Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Bank of Montreal's public communications often include written or
oral forward-looking statements. Statements of this type are included
in this document, and may be included in other filings with Canadian
securities regulators or the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission,
or in other communications. All such statements are made pursuant to
the "safe harbor" provisions of, and are intended to be
forward-looking statements under, the United States Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and any applicable Canadian
securities legislation. Forward-looking statements may include, but
are not limited to, statements with respect to our objectives and
priorities for fiscal 2019 and beyond, our strategies or future
actions, our targets, expectations for our financial condition or
share price, the regulatory environment in which we operate and the
results of or outlook for our operations or for the Canadian, U.S.
and international economies, and include statements of our
management. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by
words such as "will", "would", "should", "believe", "expect",
"anticipate", "project", "intend", "estimate", "plan", "goal",
"target", "may" and "could".

By their nature, forward-looking statements require us to make
assumptions and are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties, both
general and specific in nature. There is significant risk that
predictions, forecasts, conclusions or projections will not prove to
be accurate, that our assumptions may not be correct, and that actual
results may differ materially from such predictions, forecasts,
conclusions or projections. We caution readers of this document not
to place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements, as a
number of factors - many of which are beyond our control and the
effects of which can be difficult to predict - could cause actual
future results, conditions, actions or events to differ materially
from the targets, expectations, estimates or intentions expressed in
the forward-looking statements.

The future outcomes that relate to forward-looking statements may
be influenced by many factors, including but not limited to: general
economic and market conditions in the countries in which we operate;
the Canadian housing market; weak, volatile or illiquid capital
and/or credit markets; interest rate and currency value fluctuations;
changes in monetary, fiscal, or economic policy and tax legislation
and interpretation; the level of competition in the geographic and
business areas in which we operate; changes in laws or in supervisory
expectations or requirements, including capital, interest rate and
liquidity requirements and guidance, and the effect of such changes
on funding costs; judicial or regulatory proceedings; the accuracy
and completeness of the information we obtain with respect to our
customers and counterparties; failure of third parties to comply with
their obligations to us; our ability to execute our strategic plans
and to complete and integrate acquisitions, including obtaining
regulatory approvals; critical accounting estimates and the effect of
changes to accounting standards, rules and interpretations on these
estimates; operational and infrastructure risks, including with
respect to reliance on third parties; changes to our credit ratings;
political conditions, including changes relating to or affecting
economic or trade matters; global capital markets activities; the
possible effects on our business of war or terrorist activities;
outbreaks of disease or illness that affect local, national or
international economies; natural disasters and disruptions to public
infrastructure, such as transportation, communications, power or
water supply; technological changes; information and cyber security,
including the threat of hacking, identity theft and corporate
espionage, as well as the possibility of denial of service resulting
from efforts targeted at causing system failure and service
disruption; and our ability to anticipate and effectively manage
risks arising from all of the foregoing factors.

We caution that the foregoing list is not exhaustive of all
possible factors. Other factors and risks could adversely affect our
results. For more information, please see the discussion in the Risks
That May Affect Future Results section on page 79 of BMO's 2018
Annual Report, and the sections related to credit and counterparty,
market, insurance, liquidity and funding, operational, model, legal
and regulatory, business, strategic, environmental and social, and
reputation risk, in the Enterprise-Wide Risk Management section on
page 78 of BMO's 2018 Annual Report, and the Risk Management section
in BMO's First Quarter 2019 Report to Shareholders, all of which
outline certain key factors and risks that may affect our future
results. Investors and others should carefully consider these factors
and risks, as well as other uncertainties and potential events, and
the inherent uncertainty of forward-looking statements. We do not
undertake to update any forward-looking statements, whether written
or oral, that may be made from time to time by the organization or on
its behalf, except as required by law. The forward-looking
information contained in this document is presented for the purpose
of assisting our shareholders in understanding our financial position
as at and for the periods ended on the dates presented, as well as
our strategic priorities and objectives, and may not be appropriate
for other purposes.

Material economic assumptions underlying the forward-looking
statements contained in this document are set out in the 2018 Annual
Report under the heading "Economic Developments and Outlook", as
updated by the Economic Review and Outlook section set forth in the
First Quarter 2019 Report to Shareholders. Assumptions about the
performance of the Canadian and U.S. economies, as well as overall
market conditions and their combined effect on our business, are
material factors we consider when determining our strategic
priorities, objectives and expectations for our business. In
determining our expectations for economic growth, both broadly and in
the financial services sector, we primarily consider historical
economic data provided by governments, historical relationships
between economic and financial variables, and the risks to the
domestic and global economy. See the Economic Developments and
Outlook section on page 30 of BMO's 2018 Annual Report.

For News Media Enquiries: Paul Gammal, Toronto,
paul.gammal@bmo.com, 416-867-3996. For Investor Relations Enquiries:
Jill Homenuk, Toronto, jill.homenuk@bmo.com, (416) 867-4770,
Christine Viau, Toronto, christine.viau@bmo.com, (416) 867-6956.
Internet: http://www.bmo.com , Twitter: @BMOMedia

ots Originaltext: BMO Financial Group
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