Scotiabank pivots to more-profitable markets

Article Excerpt

Bank of Nova Scotia is now cutting its exposure to the Pacific Alliance countries in Latin America—Mexico, Peru, Colombia and Chile—due to economic problems and political instability. That will let it invest more in its North American operations. We feel these moves will lead it to raise its dividend in 2024. BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA $68 is a buy. Canada’s fourth-largest bank by market cap (Toronto symbol BNS; Income-Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.2 billion; Market cap: $81.6 billion; Dividend yield: 6.2%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Above Average; www.scotiabank.com) last raised your quarterly dividend by 2.9% with the July 2023 payment, to $1.06 a share from $1.03. The annual rate of $4.24 yields a high 6.2%. Bank of Nova Scotia’s revenue increased 1.0%, from $23.60 billion in 2019 to $31.34 billion in 2020 (fiscal years end October 31). Revenue then dipped 0.3% to $31.25 billion in 2021, but rebounded to $31.42 billion in 2022 before rising again in 2023 to $32.31 billion. Due to higher loan-loss provisions…