Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) has missed analyst expectations for its latest quarterly profit.
The Toronto-based lender reported earnings per share (EPS) of $1.26, which was well below the $1.67 expected among analysts who track the bank’s progress.
Revenue in this year’s third quarter came in at $8.1 billion, up 2% from the previous quarter due to higher fees charged by the financial institution.
As is almost always the case with Canada’s big five lenders, Bank of Nova Scotia blamed its latest earnings miss on provisions set aside to cover potentially bad loans or credit losses.
Bank of Nova Scotia said it put aside $1.26 billion to cover bad loans in the latest quarter, which was more than the $870 million analysts had expected.
The latest financial results come weeks ahead of Bank of Nova Scotia’s plan to unveil a new business strategy under Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Scott Thomson, who took the helm of the company in February of this year.
In October, Scotiabank announced that it was laying off 3% of its staff, or approximately 2,500 employees, as it seeks to streamline its operations.
Bank of Nova Scotia, Canada’s third-largest bank by assets, is the first major lender to report Q3 financial results.
The stock of Bank of Nova Scotia has declined 8% this year to trade at $60.25 per share. Over five years, the lender’s share price is down 17%.
