Scotiabank profits soar

Photo: The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Scotiabank says growth in most of its business segments drove up fourth-quarter net income to $1.843 billion, taking the total for the 2015 financial year to nearly $7.3 billion.

The profit for the three months ended Oct. 31 amounted to $1.45 per share, up 32 per cent from $1.10 a year earlier, when Scotiabank recorded a number of unusual items.

Excluding special items last year, the quarter's earnings per share was up 10 per cent from $1.32.

The results were above analyst estimates of $1.41 per share before adjustments or $1.43 per share on an adjusted basis, according to Thomson Reuters.

Canadian banking contributed $837 million to the quarter's total profit, while the international banking segment contributed $564 million to the quarter's total profit — both up from last year.

There was, however, a decline at Scotiabank's global banking and markets segment. Its $325 million net income fell 14 per cent, mostly because of less from U.S. lending, investment banking, and equities, as well as higher provision for credit losses.

For the full year, Canadian banking generated $3.344 billion of net income, down from $3.684 billion in fiscal 2014, international banking contributed $2.052 billion, up from $1.842 billion last year, and the global banking-markets segment contributed $1.553 billion in 2015, down from $1.670 billion.

"The bank's earnings growth in 2015 was driven by very good performances in our personal, commercial and wealth businesses, both in Canada and internationally," Brian Porter, Scotiabank's president and CEO, said in a statement.