BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA $65 (Toronto symbol BNS; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.2 billion; Market cap: $78.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.6; Dividend yield: 4.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.scotiabank.com) has now completed its purchase of 51% of the credit card operations of Cencosud S.A., Chile’s largest retailer.
The deal makes the bank Chile’s third-largest credit card issuer, with 2.5 million cards in use and $1 billion U.S. in loans outstanding.
Bank of Nova Scotia paid $280 million U.S. for this business, which is equal to 20% of the $1.7 billion (Canadian), or $1.35 a share, the bank earned in the three months ended January 31, 2015.
Bank of Nova Scotia is a buy.