As Canadian businesses grapple with the latest flare up in U.S. trade tensions, executives at Scotiabank still see the trade situation as “manageable” for the domestic economy
“The fundamentals in Canada are pretty good, if you look at the job growth numbers, if you look at the fiscal capacity on the back of oil prices, and if you look at some of the activity that’s starting because of the prime minister’s agenda, you actually have a backdrop that’s pretty good,” Scotiabank chief executive Scott Thomson said on the bank’s third-quarter earnings call on Tuesday.
U.S. President Donald Trump imposed 50% tariffs on about $28 billion worth of Canadian products over the weekend after trade talks collapsed.
The federal government, meanwhile, announced Tuesday its own suite of retaliatory dollar-for-dollar tariffs on American goods, which are set to take effect Sept. 8. That includes upping tariffs on American steel and aluminum products from 25 to 50% and imposing other levies on clothing, appliances, dairy products and more.
Thomson said the new U.S. tariffs affect about 5% of Canada’s exports and will have a small impact on gross domestic product.
“This obviously creates uncertainty, but with the current tariffs it’s manageable,” he said on the conference call, which occurred before the federal government’s counter-tariff and support measures announcement.
“We should use this as a country, use this moment to accelerate further the prime minister’s agenda, removing interprovincial trade barriers, reducing the timing of approvals, getting big things done and continuing to diversify trade, while also continuing the great trade relationship we have with the U.S.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s economic agenda includes plans to invest in infrastructure to boost trade, while diversifying away from the U.S. The strategy has also involved setting up a major projects office to speed up reviews of nation-building projects and boosting the country’s defence capabilities.
Thomson sees potential growth across infrastructure, pipelines and defence. He added that the evolving relationship with the U.S. presents a chance to focus on small business and commercial clients.
“I do see the opportunity for more capital to be deployed, frankly across all of our business,” Thomson said.
Q3 earnings
Scotiabank reported a third-quarter profit of $2.95 billion, up from $2.53 billion a year ago.
The bank said Tuesday the profit amounted to $2.27 per diluted share for the quarter ended July 31, up from $1.84 per diluted share in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Scotiabank says it earned $2.28 per diluted share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of $1.88 per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue for the quarter totalled $10.54 billion in its third quarter, up from $9.49 billion in the same quarter last year.
Analysts on average had expected an adjusted profit of $2.10 per share and $9.99 billion in revenue, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
Scotiabank’s provision for credit losses for the quarter amounted to $1.08 billion, up from $1.04 billion a year ago.
“Q3 was a record quarter for the bank, as all business lines reported strong results and we exceeded our medium-term objectives in the period,” Thomson said in a statement.
“In particular, we exceeded our 14% return on equity target this quarter, highlighting the improvements that we have made across the bank to increase margins and fee income.”
John Aiken, an analyst at Jefferies, said in a note to investors that Scotia’s third quarter was an “impressive beat against expectations.”
“That said, much of the heavy lifting was done by a surprisingly strong capital markets performance. Consequently, while we anticipate that Scotia’s results will be viewed positively by the market, we do not expect that the full 8% beat will be automatically priced into its valuation,” the note reads.
Scotiabank said its Canadian banking business earned a profit attributable to equity holders of $1.07 billion, up from $958 million a year ago, boosted by higher revenues, partly offset by higher non-interest expenses and provision for credit losses.
The bank’s international banking operations earned $725 million attributable to equity holders, up from $670 million in the same quarter last year.
Scotiabank’s global wealth management business earned $515 million attributable to equity holders, up from $417 million a year ago. The increase was mainly driven by higher mutual fund fees, brokerage revenues and net interest income across the Canadian wealth business. It was partly offset by higher volume-related non-interest expenses.
Assets under management totalled $474 billion, up from $407 billion the previous year. At the same time, assets under administration amounted to $856 billion, up from $754 billion.
Scotiabank’s global banking and markets business earned $647 million in its latest quarter, up from $473 million in the same quarter last year.