Topic: How To Invest

The Successful Investor Hotline – Friday, August 27, 2021

Article Excerpt

BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA, $79.39, Toronto symbol BNS, is a buy. The bank continues to reverse its big loan-loss provisions increase last year as the pandemic eases and the economy re-opens. Demand for new loans, particularly home mortgages, also remains steady. That is offsetting lower credit card balances. In its fiscal 2021 third quarter, ended July 31, 2021, Bank of Nova Scotia set aside $380 million to cover future loan losses. That’s down 82.6% from $2.18 billion a year earlier. Due to those lower provisions, the bank’s earnings in the quarter jumped 83.6%, to $2.44 billion from $1.33 billion. Per-share earnings gained 93.3%, to $2.01 from $1.04, on fewer shares outstanding. Those figures exclude unusual items. On that basis, the latest earnings beat the consensus estimate of $1.90 a share. Thanks to the lower loan-loss provisions, earnings at the Canadian banking operations (43% of the total) jumped 150.2% in the quarter while earnings at the international banking business (20%) soared 830.2%. As well, earnings at the…