BNS expands in key market

Article Excerpt

BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA $77.05 (Toronto symbol BNS; Shares outstanding: 1.2 billion; Market cap: $92.4 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 4.3%) acquired 51% of Banco Colpatria, Colombia’s fifth-largest banking firm, in 2012. That business now has over 3.5 million retail, corporate and commercial customers. On June 30, 2018, Colpatria completed its purchase of Citibank’s retail and small business banking operations in Colombia. Colpatria has yet to reveal how much it paid for those operations, but they should add over 500,000 new clients. They also come with 47 branches and 424 ATMs across the South American country. Deals like this are part of Bank of Nova Scotia’s plan to expand in four key Latin American markets: Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Chile. In the quarter ended April 30, 2018, those four countries accounted for roughly 20% of the bank’s overall earnings. Bank of Nova Scotia is a buy. buy…