Scotiabank announce Q2 increase

An increase of $12 million or eight percent over the same period last year, this brought the year-todate income after tax to $333 million, an increase of $25 million or eight percent when compared to the corresponding period in 2016.

Earnings per share increased to 188.7 cents, with return on equity and return on assets improving to 17.49 percent and 2.83 percent respectively, when compared to the same period last year.

Total assets as at April 30 were $24 billion, representing growth of $1.9 billion or nine percent over the comparable period last year.

In light of its “continued strong performance”, Scotiabank’s board has approved a Q2 dividend of 50 cents per ordinary share, payable on July 14, 2017 to shareholders on record as at June 16, 2017. For the same period last year, the board approved an interim dividend payment of 40 cents per ordinary share.

Scotiabank’s Managing Director, Anya Schnoor, said the “strong performance” in Q2 was “driven by solid growth in our core business lines combined with lower expenses.” “Retail loans grew by $749 million or eight percent and total deposits increased by $1.5 billion or nine percent, when compared to the same time last year. This demonstrates the strength of our bank and the confidence that our customers continue to place with us.” Schnoor noted that this country long-term sovereign credit rating was recently lowered by rating agencies Standard and Poor’s, and Moody’s Investors Service, “driven by continued declining energy production, limited investment prospects and a steady increase in debt levels.” “Despite these challenges, Scotiabank is committed to working with our clients during this period and finding solutions which continue to make them better off.” Hence the bank’s recent launch of two initiatives geared towards the further growth and development of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs), “as we continue to support the Government’s thrust to diversify and develop the local economy”.

The Scotiabank Vision Achiever 2017 programme provides practical training to business owners, thereby allowing them to sharpen their entrepreneurial skills as they seek to grow and expand their businesses.

The other initiative, the SME Development Credit Facility, provides affordable financing to selected industries.

“We also continue to make good progress on our strategic priority of digital transformation and during the quarter, we launched new functionality on our on-line and mobile platforms. Customers with chequeing accounts are now able to access online images of cheques written on their accounts. This new functionality is consistent with our drive to make it easier for our customers to bank with us,” Schnoor stated.