Scotia pays $0.50 dividend

SHAREHOLDERS in Scotiabank TT (Scotiabank) will receive a $0.50 dividend payment for the financial quarter ended January 31, 2018.

The dividend announcement was part of the bank’s first quarter (Q1) results, released on Tuesday during the 48th annual meeting of shareholders at Hyatt Regency, Port of Spain.

Scotiabank reported income after taxation of $148 million for the quarter ended January 31, 2018, a decrease of $23 million or 13 per cent over the comparative period last year.

This reduction in profitability was driven by higher levels of loan loss provisioning combined with the increased corporation tax rates levied on commercial banks at 35 per cent.

“This is indicative of the economic environment in which we operate, as we continue to adopt prudent risk management policies to protect the interests of all our stakeholders,” the bank stated.

Concurrent with the decline in profitability, Scotiabank’s earnings per share decreased to 83.3 cents, return on equity to 15.05 per cent and return on assets to 2.44 per cent, when compared to January 31, 2017.

“Based on this performance, the board of directors has approved a first quarter dividend of 50 cents per ordinary share payable on April 13, 2018 to shareholders on record as at March 14, 2018.”

Commenting on the Q1 results, Scotiabank MD Stephen Bagnarol said they are “indicative of the challenging economic environment in which we operate.”