Scotiabank’s Earnings Fall Short as it Takes Charge on Chinese Bank Investment

The Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) reported fourth-quarter earnings that narrowly missed analyst estimates on Tuesday.

The bank, which opens a stretch of Canadian bank earnings this week, reported C$4.92 billion ($3.51 billion) in net interest income (NII) and C$8.53 billion in revenue for the quarter, each up year-over-year. Analysts, however, had expected the figures to come in slightly higher at C$4.95 billion and C$8.64 billion, respectively, according to estimates compiled by Visible Alpha.

Net income missed estimates by a wider margin at C$1.69 billion, below the C$2.14 billion analysts had expected. After adjusting for one-time costs like a C$379 million impairment charge related to Scotiabank’s investment in the Bank of Xi’an in China, Scotiabank’s adjusted net income of C$2.12 billion still missed estimates of C$2.16 billion, but by a much narrower margin.

Scotiabank Making ‘Early Progress’ on New Strategy

“2024 was a foundational year for Scotiabank as we launched and made early progress against our new strategy,” CEO Scott Thomson said. “The Bank delivered solid revenue growth and positive full year operating leverage, while redeploying capital to our priority markets across the North American corridor.”

The bank is in the midst of shifting its focus on its North American operations, growing its business in Canada and other moves like its recent investment into the parent company of U.S.-based Key Bank. As part of the transition, the company is cutting costs in its international operations like the Caribbean and South America, Bloomberg reported.

Scotiabank said earnings from its Canadian, international, and wealth management segments all grew year-over-year. Global banking and markets revenue improved thanks to higher fees, but increased expenses and lower loan balances offset the growth, Scotiabank said.

The bank’s U.S.-listed shares were down about 3.5% shortly after markets opened Tuesday.