Scotiabank expands in Thailand

Article Excerpt

BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA $52 (Toronto symbol BNS; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.0 billion; Market cap: $52.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.2; Dividend yield: 3.8%; SI Rating: Above Average) is expanding its operations in Thailand. Right now, it owns 49% of Thailand’s Thanachart Bank. Thanachart has agreed to buy rival Siam City Bank. When the deal closes later this year, the combined bank will have more than 660 branches, 2,100 automated-teller machines and 18,000 employees. That will make it Thailand’s fifth-largest bank. Bank of Nova Scotia will contribute $650 million to maintain its 49% stake in the merged bank. That’s 66% of the $988 million, or $0.91 a share, that Bank of Nova Scotia earned in the three months ended January 31, 2010. However, this new investment should add roughly $0.10 a share to the bank’s annual earnings. Bank of Nova Scotia is a buy. buy…