BNS looks to exit Thailand

Article Excerpt

BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA $55.78 (Toronto symbol BNS; Shares outstanding: 1.2 billion; Market cap: $67.8 billion; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; Dividend yield: 5.0%, www.scotiabank.com) is considering selling all or part of its 49% stake in Thailand’s Thanachart Bank, which has a book value of $2.4 billion. Like many Asian nations, Thailand prohibits foreign firms from controlling domestic banks. Economic weakness and political uncertainty have also hurt loan demand in the country. Bank of Nova Scotia would probably use the proceeds from any sale to expand in Latin America. The bank gets around 30% of its earnings from its international operations. In 2014, Bank of Nova Scotia acquired 51% of the credit and consumer loan operations of Chilean retailer Cencosud for $280 million U.S. That made Scotiabank Chile’s third-largest credit card provider. In 2015, the bank acquired Citibank’s retail banking businesses in Peru, Panama and Costa Rica for $360 million U.S. Bank of Nova Scotia is a buy. buy. …