Scotiabank profits rise to $462m

SCOTIABANK TT earned after-tax profits of $462 million for the first three quarters in this fiscal year up from $366 million for the same period in fiscal 2020, the bank said on Wednesday in a statement for the nine months ending July 31, 2021. This was an increase of $96 million or 26 per cent.

A table showed this improvement reflected over the period in a rise in dividends per share (from $1.40 up to $2.65) and in earnings per share (from $2.07 to $2.61)

Within these results, Scotiabank had an after-tax income for the quarter ending July 31, 2021 of $157 million, a rise of $53 million or 51 per cent over the quarter ended 31 July 2020.

"We delivered another quarter of improved financial results," Scotiabank TT managing director Gayle Pazos said.

"The continued challenging economic environment coupled with the operating restrictions on businesses, negatively impacted the group’s revenue which declined by $42 million, or three per cent, to $1.3 billion arising from the decline in economic activity.

"In the face of lower revenues, the group moved to reduce our non-interest expense base by $46 million or eight per cent from the prior year."

This translated into an improved operating efficiency ratio of 41 per cent.

The group continues to exercise prudent risk management.

"Credit quality of our loan portfolio remained relatively stable, with the ratio of non-accrual loans to total loans standing at 2.28 per cent at the end of July 2021, and net impairment losses reducing by $144 million or 69 per cent from prior year."

Scotia boasted of offering an exceptional customer experience, such as by enhancing its digital offering to help customers do their banking safely and conveniently.

"Since the onset of the pandemic we have seen an increase of 1.4 million in online and mobile transactions. Further by listening to our customers’ feedback, we have been able to introduce new and desired features to our acclaimed Scotia Caribbean App."

Pazos said the bank's customer focus starts with taking care of its employees, ensuring that they feel valued in an inclusive culture and can bring their true selves to work.

"During the quarter, we worked to have over 500 staff and family members become fully vaccinated, with the assistance of other industry players.

"Vaccines, now readily available, present a safe way out of the pandemic and while vaccination numbers are growing in the country, we still have a long way to go to herd immunity. I urge everyone to do their part in creating a safe environment and encourage all who have not yet been vaccinated to do so as soon as possible."

Pazos said in these challenging times and to date it had provided financial assistance to over 95,000 customers.

The bank's overall earnings from interest was $928 million, which was $60 million or six per cent lower than the same quarter in 2020.

This fall was "driven mainly by decline in our loan portfolio as a result of the continued economic impact of the pandemic."

Other income for the same period was $375 million, up by $18 million or five per cent since the year before. It was due to an "increase in core banking revenues including credit card income partially offset by lower insurance revenues."

The statement included the shareholders' report for the latest quarter.

"Despite the uncertainty of where the covid pandemic will take us in the short term, the group remains cautiously optimistic that the economy will gradually recover over time.

"Our core earnings streams remain resilient and our strong capital position will enable us to continue to support our customers during these difficult times. We also continue to support the vaccination efforts of both the Government and private sector and we would like to thank our fellow banking sector counterparts for their support in vaccinating our staff and their families during the quarter."