Strong quarter for Scotiabank

Article Excerpt

BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA $49.30 (Toronto symbol BNS: Shares outstanding: 1.0 billion; Market cap: $51.0 billion; SI Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 3.8%) earned a record $1.1 billion, or $1.02 a share in the three months ended April 30, 2010. That’s up 25.8% from $872 million, or $0.81, a year earlier. Revenue rose 5.4%, to $3.9 billion from $3.7 billion. Most of the earnings increase came from the Canadian retail-banking division, which supplies 45% of the bank’s total earnings. This division’s profits jumped 42.4%, mainly because low interest rates spurred demand for mortgages and personal loans. Bank of Nova Scotia is a safety-conscious buy. buy…