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Topic: Dividend Stocks

BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA $66 – Toronto symbol BNS

BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA $66 (Toronto symbol BNS; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.2 billion; Market cap: $79.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 3.6; Dividend yield: 4.1%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.scotiabank.com) has now purchased 51% of the credit card operations of Cencosud S.A., Chile’s largest retailer, for $280 million U.S. The deal made the bank Chile’s third-largest credit card issuer.

Meanwhile, Bank of Nova Scotia earned $1.73 billion, or $1.42 a share, in its fiscal 2015 second quarter, which ended April 30, 2015. That’s up 1.6% from $1.70 billion, or $1.39, a year earlier. Revenue rose 3.7%, to $5.9 billion from $5.7 billion.

Earnings at the Canadian banking division (48% of the bank’s total) rose 0.7%, mainly because it sold most of its shares in mutual fund provider CI Financial (Toronto symbol CIX) in 2014. If you exclude CI and adjust for a change in tax rates, this division’s earnings rose 9% on improving loan and deposit growth.

The international division (26% of total earnings) saw its earnings decline 0.9%. Demand for new loans remains strong, but the bank is earning less interest income from the money it lends. However, earnings at the securities-trading division (26%) rose 3.0% on higher volumes and favourable currency rates.

The bank set aside $448 million to cover potential bad loans in the latest quarter, up 19.5% from $375 million a year earlier. That’s mainly because it’s loaning more funds to consumers in Canada and Latin America.

Bank of Nova Scotia is a buy.

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