Topic: How To Invest

The Successful Investor Hotline – Friday, October 16, 2020

Article Excerpt

BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA, $56.18, Toronto symbol BNS, is a buy. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Canada’s banks let borrowers defer payments on their loans. Now after the deferral period has ended, most of Bank of Nova Scotia’s clients continue to repay their loans on time. As of September 30, 2020, the bank’s Canadian retail customers have deferred payments on a total of $16.4 billion worth of loans (including mortgages, car loans and credit cards). That’s down 57.9% from $39.0 billion as of August 31, 2020—only a month earlier. As well, 98.0% of customers whose deferrals have expired remain current on their payments. At Bank of Nova Scotia’s international operations, retail loan deferrals improved (dropped) 29.2% in the month of September to $8.5 billion. What’s more, commercial and small business loan deferral balances improved 31.3% in Canada to $1.1 billion, and by 12.0% in international markets to $6.6 billion. To put those amounts in context, the bank’s total loan portfolio was $613.35 billion as…