Scotiabank reports higher earnings

Another of Canada’s big banks reported its quarterly results Tuesday and continued the trend of rising profits.

Scotiabank reported second quarter net income of almost $2.18 billion million compared to $2.06 billion a year earlier. Diluted earnings per share were $1.70, compared to $1.62 in the same period a year ago. Return on equity was 14.9%, the same as last year.

"We are pleased with the performance of our businesses this quarter, which demonstrates the strength of our personal and commercial businesses, both in International Banking as well as in Canada," said Brian Porter, President and CEO of Scotiabank. "Our diversified business model continues to contribute to our overall performance and we remain focused on investments in digital banking and improving the customer experience.

Canadian operations remain solid
He added that the Canadian commercial operations delivered strong growth and personal banking also gained with solid loan growth, margin expansion and better credit performance.

Net income attributable to equity holders was almost $1.02 billion, an increase of 5%, driven by strong asset growth, margin expansion, lower provision for credit losses and higher income from investments in associated corporations, partially offset by higher non-interest expenses.

Lower real estate gains impacted earnings by 5%, which was partially offset by the 3% benefit from the additional month of earnings from the alignment of reporting period of Canadian insurance business with the Bank.

Overall YTD performance improves
Year-to-date net income was $4.51 billion compared to $4,07 billion in the same period of 2017.

"We are pleased with our performance over the first half of 2018, with earnings per share up 12%. We are committed to making the investments to build a better bank for our customers across our footprint which will drive continued growth for the Bank," added Porter.

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