Scotiabank records $488m in profits

SCOTIABANK has reported $488 million in profit after tax for the year ended July 31, an increase of $18 million, or four per cent, over the prior year.

The financial performance was reported in its results for the third quarter of the financial year on September 17.

The figures were compared to restated financial results for the same period in 2023, which recorded its profit after tax at $469.7 million.

In the chairman’s statement, Derek Hudson said the group recorded an increase in total revenue of $48 million, from $1.39 billion in 2023 to $1.44 billion this year – a three per cent growth year over year.

The chairman’s statement said non-interest expenses increased by $48 million over the same period the same year, from $577 million for 2023 to $625 million this year. Despite the increase, the productivity ratio – a figure calculated by dividing the non-interest expenses by total revenue – was still 43 per cent, making it the best in class in the local banking sector.

Total assets increased by $1.4 billion, or five per cent, year over year, with the group’s largest interest-earning asset, loans to customers, growing by eight per cent, or $1.4 billion.

“The increase in total assets was funded by an increase in deposits from customers of $1.5 billion or seven per cent,” the statement said. “This demonstrates consumer confidence in our stability and competitive rate offerings across all business segments.”

For the third quarter of the year ending July 31, Scotiabank earned $164.8 million in profits as compared to $157 million for the same period the year before. Revenue for the quarter stood at $486 million, as compared to $470 million the year before and non-interest expenses saw an uptick, from $214 million this year as compared to $199 million the year before.

Hudson explained in the statement that the financial results were based on this year’s figures and restated figures for the year before.

The restatement came out of the adoption of IFRS17, the international financial reporting standard on insurance contracts which replaced IFRS 4 from November last year.

“This change in standard impacted the recognition and measurement of insurance contracts in the group’s insurance subsidiary – Scotialife TT Ltd."