Scotiabank profit beats estimates on lower provisions, Canada revenues

TORONTO, Nov 30 (Reuters) – Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) kicked off fourth-quarter results reporting by beating analysts’ estimates on Tuesday, helped by lower provisions for credit losses in its international unit and improved revenues in its Canadian business.

Canada’s third-largest lender also announced a dividend of C$1 a share, up from the 90 Canadian cents it has been paying for the last eight quarters.

Net income excluding one-off items rose to C$2.72 billion ($2.13 billion), or C$2.10, in the three months ended Oct. 31, compared with C$1.9 billion, or C$1.45, a year earlier. Analysts had expected C$1.90 a share, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

That came primarily from its Pacific Alliance-focused international unit, where adjusted profits jumped 74%, largely driven by lower provisions than a year ago, and its Canadian business, which saw earnings jump 59%, thanks to improved revenues.

It took provisions of C$168 million during the quarter, down from C$1.1 billion a year ago.

Exclusing the impact of provisions and taxes, the bank posted adjusted profit of C$3.6 billion, up 4% from a year ago.

The bank reported overall net profit of C$1.97 a share, up from C$1.42 a year ago.

($1 = 1.2766 Canadian dollars)Reporting by Nichola Saminather in Toronto and Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and Louise Heavens

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This article was originally published by Reuters.