The Successful Investor Hotline – Friday, December 5, 2008

Article Excerpt

BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA $33.65, Toronto symbol BNS, recently agreed to buy Sun Life Financial’s 37% stake in CI Financial Income Fund, Canada’s third-largest mutual fund company. The purchase will give the bank about 37.6% of CI’s outstanding units. Bank of Nova Scotia originally agreed to pay $2.3 billion in cash for the CI units. Under a new agreement, the bank will now pay $1.55 billion in cash, $500 million in common shares valued at $34.60 a share and $250 million in preferred shares. This new arrangement helps preserve Bank of Nova Scotia’s strong regulatory capital ratios. The bank aims to complete the purchase next week. Meanwhile, Bank of Nova Scotia’s revenue in its fiscal year ended October 31, 2008 fell 4.9%, to $11.9 billion from $12.5 billion in the prior year. It earned $3.1 billion or $3.05 a share, down 22.4% from $4.05 billion or $4.01 a share. However, if you disregard writedowns of securities, earnings per share would have fallen…