(Bloomberg) -- The turnaround at Bank of Nova Scotia’s Latin America-focused international division is picking up steam.
The unit’s adjusted profit rose 74% to C$614 million ($480 million) in the fiscal fourth quarter, Toronto-based Scotiabank said Tuesday. Overall profit in the three months through Oct. 31 topped analysts’ estimates.
Scotiabank’s international division is rebounding after a period in which the unit had lagged the Canadian segment because of slower consumer lending growth. The Latin America-focused operation saw business loans rise from the previous quarter as well as continued growth in mortgage loans.
The bank -- which, along with Canada’s other large lenders, had been temporarily prohibited by regulators from boosting its dividend or buying back shares -- also raised its quarterly payout by 11% to C$1 a share and announced a plan to repurchase 24 million in shares. At current share prices, that works out to about C$1.95 billion.
Scotiabank shares have advanced 18% this year, compared with a 29% gain for the S&P/TSX Commercial Banks Index.
- Net income rose 35% to C$2.56 billion, or C$1.97 a share. Excluding some items, profit was C$2.10 a share. Analysts estimated C$1.91 a share, on average.
- The bank took C$168 million in provisions for credit losses. Analysts estimated C$559.6 million in set-asides, on average.
- Profit in Scotia’s global banking and markets unit rose 9.1% to C$502 million.
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