Scotiabank reports fourth quarter and 2020 results

Fiscal 2020 Performance versus Medium-Term Objectives

The following table provides a summary of our 2020 performance against our medium-term financial performance objectives:

TORONTO, Dec. 1, 2020 /CNW/ - Scotiabank reported net income of $6,853 million for the fiscal year 2020, compared with net income of $8,798 million in 2019. Diluted earnings per share (EPS) were $5.30, compared to $6.68 in the previous year. Return on equity was 10.4%, compared to 13.1% in the previous year.

Adjusted net income⁽¹⁾ was $6,961 million, down from $9,409 million in the previous year, and EPS were $5.36 versus $7.14 in the previous year.

Reported net income for the fourth quarter ended October 31, 2020 was $1,899 million compared to $2,308 million in the same period last year. Diluted earnings per share were $1.42, compared to $1.73 in the same period a year ago. Return on equity was 11.0% compared to 13.3% a year ago.

Adjusted net income⁽¹⁾ for the fourth quarter ended October 31, 2020 was $1,938 million and EPS were $1.45, down from $1.82 last year.

"We delivered improved fourth quarter results to end the year on a strong note. The Bank's resilience during the pandemic reflects our strong asset quality and the benefits from our investments in people, processes, and technology as well as our diversified business model. I am extremely proud of the entire Scotiabank team. We continue to focus on our customers, while supporting employees," said Brian Porter, President and CEO of Scotiabank. The Bank was recently recognized for outstanding COVID-19 leadership by Global Finance for its efforts to support customers, employees, and the broader community throughout the pandemic.

Canadian Banking generated adjusted earnings of $2,604 million in 2020, which were negatively impacted by an elevated provision for credit losses driven by COVID-19. Fourth quarter earnings improved to $782 million, with strong asset growth and stable margins. The Bank provided customer assistance to over 370,000 customers in Canada this year.

International Banking generated adjusted earnings of $1,148 million in 2020. The division's lower earnings were driven by higher provision for credit losses as a result of COVID-19 and the impact of divestitures. Fourth quarter earnings were $283 million, up meaningfully from the previous quarter.

Global Banking and Markets delivered record adjusted earnings of $2,034 million in 2020, up 33%, reflecting strong performance in trading, lending, and underwriting businesses. Record revenues reflected strong performance in Capital Markets, and good loan and deposit volume growth in Business Banking. Looking forward, the business will build on its presence in the Americas, leverage Europe and Asia-Pacific for distribution of Americas' products and support global corporate clients.

Global Wealth Management reported adjusted earnings of $1,297 million in 2020, up 7%. The results were supported by strong mutual fund net sales in Canada and record iTRADE volumes. In 2020, Scotia Global Asset Management was recognized for its strong performance by winning seven "2019 Lipper Fund" Awards and 27 "FundGrade A+" awards.

The Bank reported a strong Common Equity Tier 1 capital ratio of 11.8% and a liquidity coverage ratio of 138%, a strong position from which to continue to support its customers and drive future growth.

"As we look forward to 2021, we will continue to put customers first and we remain cautiously optimistic that better times lie ahead as we continue to grow our presence as a leading bank in the Americas," said Brian Porter, President and CEO, Scotiabank.

Non-GAAP Measures

The Bank uses a number of financial measures to assess its performance. Some of these measures are not calculated in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), which are based on International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), are not defined by GAAP and do not have standardized meanings that would ensure consistency and comparability among companies using these measures. The Bank believes that certain non-GAAP measures are useful in assessing ongoing business performance and provide readers with a better understanding of how management assesses performance. These non-GAAP measures are used throughout this press release and are defined in the "Non-GAAP Measures" section of our 2020 Annual Report to Shareholders.

Adjusted results and diluted earnings per share

The following tables present reconciliations of GAAP Reported financial results to Non-GAAP Adjusted financial results. The financial results have been adjusted for the following:

1) Acquisition and divestiture-related amounts – Acquisition and divestiture-related amounts are defined as:

  A)   Acquisition-related costs

1. Integration costs – Includes costs that are incurred and relate to integrating the acquired operations and are recorded in the Global Wealth Management and International Banking operating segments. These costs will cease once integration is complete. The costs relate to the following acquisitions:
• Banco Cencosud, Peru (closed Q2, 2019)
• Banco Dominicano del Progreso, Dominican Republic (closed Q2, 2019)
• MD Financial Management, Canada (closed Q4, 2018)
• Jarislowsky, Fraser Limited, Canada (closed Q3, 2018)
• Citibank consumer and small and medium enterprise operations, Colombia (closed Q3, 2018)
• BBVA, Chile (closed Q3, 2018)
  
  
2. Day 1 provision for credit losses on acquired performing financial instruments, as required by IFRS 9. The standard does not differentiate between originated and purchased performing loans and as such, requires the same accounting treatment for both. These credit losses are considered Acquisition-related costs in periods where applicable and are recorded in the International Banking segment. The provision for 2019 relates to Banco Cencosud, Peru and Banco Dominicano del Progreso, Dominican Republic.
   
   
3. Amortization of Acquisition-related intangible assets, excluding software. These costs relate to the six acquisitions above, as well as prior acquisitions and are recorded in the Canadian Banking, International Banking and Global Wealth Management operating segments.

B)  Net (gain)/loss on divestitures – The Bank announced a number of divestitures in accordance with its strategy to reposition the Bank. The net (gain)/loss on divestitures is recorded in the Other segment, and relates to the following divestitures:

• Operations in Antigua and Barbuda (announced Q4, 2020)
• Operations in British Virgin Islands (closed Q3, 2020)
• Operations in Belize (announced Q3, 2020)
• Equity-accounted investment in Thanachart Bank, Thailand (closed Q1, 2020)
• Colfondos AFP, Colombia (closed Q1, 2020)
• Operations in Puerto Rico and USVI (closed Q1, 2020)
• Insurance and banking operations in El Salvador (closed Q1, 2020)
• Banking operations in the Caribbean (closed Q4, 2019)
• Insurance and pension operations in the Dominican Republic (closed Q2, 2019)

2)  Valuation-related adjustments, recorded in Q1, 2020 (pre-tax $315 million) – The Bank modified its allowance for credit losses measurement methodology by adding an additional, more severe pessimistic scenario, consistent with developing practice among major international banks in applying IFRS 9, and the Bank's prudent approach to expected credit loss provisioning. The modification resulted in an increase in provision for credit losses of $155 million which was recorded in Canadian Banking, International Banking, Global Wealth Management and Global Banking and Markets operating segments. The Bank enhanced its fair value methodology primarily relating to uncollateralized OTC derivatives which resulted in a pre-tax charge of $116 million. This charge was recorded in the Global Banking and Markets and Other operating segments. The Bank also recorded an impairment loss in the Other operating segment of $44 million pre-tax, related to one software asset.

Financial Highlights

Impact of Foreign Currency Translation

Impact of Divested Operations

Group Financial Performance

Net income
Q4 2020 vs Q4 2019
Net income was $1,899 million compared to $2,308 million. Adjusted net income was $1,938 million compared to $2,400 million, down 19%, due mainly to lower non-interest income and higher provision for credit losses, partially offset by lower non-interest expenses and provision for income taxes.

Q4 2020 vs Q3 2020
Net income was $1,899 million compared to $1,304 million. Adjusted net income was $1,938 million compared to $1,308 million, an increase of 48%, due mainly to lower provision for credit losses, partially offset by lower non-interest income and higher provision for income taxes.

Total revenue
Q4 2020 vs Q4 2019
Revenues were $7,505 million, a decrease of $463 million or 6%. Adjusted revenues were $7,505 million, a decrease of $457 million or 6%, due mainly to lower net interest income and non-interest income, negatively impacted by divested operations.

Q4 2020 vs Q3 2020
Revenues were $7,505 million, a decrease of $229 million or 3%. Adjusted revenues were $7,505 million, a decrease of $184 million or 2%, due mainly to lower non-interest income driven by lower trading revenues.

Net interest income
Q4 2020 vs Q4 2019
Net interest income was $4,258 million, a decrease of $78 million or 2%. Asset growth and higher contribution from asset/liability management activities were more than offset by the negative impact of foreign currency translation and divested operations.

The core banking margin was down 18 basis points to 2.22%, driven by lower margins across all business lines due to the impact of central bank rate cuts and changes in business mix, as well as increased levels of lower-margin liquid assets.

Q4 2020 vs Q3 2020
Net interest income was in line with the previous quarter. Higher contribution from asset/liability management activities was offset by lower asset volume and the negative impact of foreign currency translation.

The core banking margin was up 12 basis points to 2.22%, driven primarily by higher contribution from asset/liability management activities and lower volumes of lower-margin high quality liquid assets. Margins were stable across all business lines.

Non-interest income
Q4 2020 vs Q4 2019
Non-interest income was $3,247 million, down $385 million or 11%. Adjusted non-interest income declined $379 million or 10%. The impact of divestitures was approximately 5%. The remaining 5% decrease was due to lower banking revenues, insurance revenues, other fees and commissions, as well as the negative impact of foreign currency translation. These were partly offset by higher trading revenues.

Q4 2020 vs Q3 2020
Non-interest income was down $234 million or 7%. Adjusted non-interest income decreased by $189 million or 6%, due primarily to lower trading revenues and underwriting and advisory fees, partly offset by higher banking revenues in Canadian and International Banking, and higher wealth management fees.

Provision for credit losses
Q4 2020 vs Q4 2019
The provision for credit losses was $1,131 million, an increase of $378 million or 50%.  The provision for credit losses ratio increased 23 basis points to 73 basis points.

The provision on impaired loans was $835 million, compared to $744 million, up $91 million due primarily to higher commercial and corporate loan provisions, partially offset by lower retail provisions. The provision for credit losses ratio on impaired loans was 54 basis points, an increase of five basis points.

The provision on performing loans was $296 million, compared to $9 million, an increase of $287 million of which $167 million related to retail, mainly in International Banking. Commercial and corporate loan provisions increased $120 million across all business lines. The increase is due primarily to the COVID-19 pandemic impact on the performing portfolio driven by the unfavourable macroeconomic outlook and its estimated future impact on credit migration.

Q4 2020 vs Q3 2020
The provision for credit losses was $1,131 million, a decrease of $1,050 million. The provision for credit losses ratio decreased 63 basis points to 73 basis points.

The provision on impaired loans was $835 million, compared to $928 million, a decrease of $93 million or 10%, due primarily to lower retail provisions driven by lower delinquencies and credit migration.  The provision for credit losses ratio on impaired loans was 54 basis points, a decrease of four basis points.

The provision for performing loans was $296 million, compared to $1,253 million, a decrease of $957 million of which $752 million related to retail and $205 million related to commercial.  The decrease was driven primarily by improving macroeconomic outlook and stabilizing portfolio credit quality.

Non-interest expenses
Q4 2020 vs Q4 2019
Non-interest expenses were $4,057 million, down $254 million or 6%. Adjusted non-interest expenses of $4,003 million declined by 5%, of which 2% related to the impact of divested operations. The remaining 3% decrease was due to lower professional fees, advertising and business development expenses and the positive impact of foreign currency translation, partly offset by the impact of COVID-19 related costs.

The productivity ratio was 54.1%, in line with last year. On an adjusted basis, the productivity ratio was 53.3%, compared to 52.7%.

Q4 2020 vs Q3 2020
Non-interest expenses were up $39 million or 1%. Adjusted non-interest expenses were also up by 1%, due to higher personnel costs and technology, partly offset by the positive impact of foreign currency translation.

The productivity ratio was 54.1% compared to 52.0%. On an adjusted basis, the productivity ratio was 53.3%, compared to 51.4%.

Provision for income taxes
Q4 2020 vs Q4 2019
The effective tax rate was 18.0% compared to 20.5%, due primarily to changes in earnings mix across businesses and jurisdictions.

Q4 2020 vs Q3 2020
The effective tax rate was 18.0% compared to 15.1%, due primarily to significantly higher provision for credit losses recorded in entities that operate in higher tax rate jurisdictions in the prior quarter.

Capital Ratios

The Bank continues to maintain strong, high quality capital levels which position it well for resiliency during the COVID-19 pandemic. The CET1 ratio as at October 31, 2020 was 11.8%, an increase of approximately 70 basis points from the prior year due primarily to strong internal capital generation and the impact from the Bank's divestitures during the year, partly offset by the adoption of regulatory changes, the impact from foreign currency translation on capital requirements, the remeasurement of the employee pension obligations, and share buybacks. The CET1 ratio also benefited 30 basis points from OSFI's transitional adjustment for the partial inclusion of increases in Stage 1 and Stage 2 expected credit losses (ECL) relative to their pre-crisis baseline levels as at January 31, 2020.

The Bank's Tier 1 capital ratio was 13.3% as at October 31, 2020, an increase of approximately 110 basis points from the prior year, due primarily to the issuance of US$1.25 billion of Scotiabank additional Tier 1 capital securities and the above noted impacts to the CET1 ratio, partly offset by the redemption of $265 million of preferred shares during the year. The Total capital ratio was 15.5% as at October 31, 2020, an increase of approximately 130 basis points from 2019, due primarily to the above noted changes to the CET1 and Tier 1 capital ratios.

The Leverage ratio was 4.7%, an increase of approximately 50 basis points in 2020 due primarily to OSFI's temporary Leverage ratio exclusions for central bank reserves and sovereign-issued securities and transitional adjustment for the partial inclusion of ECL, internal capital generation and the issuance of US$1.25 billion of Scotiabank additional Tier 1 capital securities, partly offset by the redemption of $265 million of preferred shares during the year.

The Bank's capital ratios continue to be well in excess of OSFI's minimum capital ratio requirements for 2020 of 9.0%, 10.5% and 12.5% for CET1, Tier 1 and Total Capital, respectively. The Bank was well above the OSFI minimum Leverage ratio as at October 31, 2020.

Business Segment Review

Net income
Q4 2020 vs Q4 2019
Net income attributable to equity holders was $778 million, compared to $898 million. Adjusted net income was $782 million, a decrease of $120 million or 13%. The decline was due primarily to higher provision for credit losses on performing loans, lower net interest income and non-interest income, partly offset by lower non-interest expenses.

Q4 2020 vs Q3 2020
Net income attributable to equity holders increased $349 million or 81%. The increase was due primarily to a lower provision for credit losses on performing loans, higher net interest income, and higher non-interest income, partly offset by higher non-interest expenses. 

Total revenue
Q4 2020 vs Q4 2019
Revenues were $2,566 million, down $117 million or 4%. The decrease was due primarily to lower net interest income from margin compression, and lower non-interest income.

Q4 2020 vs Q3 2020
Revenues increased $66 million or 3%, due primarily to higher non-interest income and net interest income.

Net interest income
Q4 2020 vs Q4 2019
Net interest income of $1,954 million decreased $73 million or 4%, due primarily to margin compression, partly offset by solid volume growth. The net interest margin declined 15 basis points to 2.26%, primarily driven by the interest rate cuts by the Bank of Canada, and changes to business mix.

Q4 2020 vs Q3 2020
Net interest income increased $24 million or 1%, due primarily to mortgage and deposit growth. The margin of 2.26% remained stable.

Non-interest income
Q4 2020 vs Q4 2019
Non-interest income of $612 million decreased $44 million or 7%. The decline was due primarily to lower banking fees mainly as a result of a decline in economic activity and transaction volumes, foreign exchange, and insurance fees.

Q4 2020 vs Q3 2020
Non-interest income increased $42 million or 7% due primarily to higher banking fees, insurance revenue, and income from associated corporations.

Provision for credit losses
Q4 2020 vs Q4 2019
The provision for credit losses was $330 million, compared to $247 million, up $83 million or 34%.  The provision for credit losses ratio increased nine basis points to 37 basis points.

Provision on impaired loans was $238 million compared to $255 million, down $17 million or 7% due primarily to lower retail provisions partially offset by higher commercial provisions mainly related to one account. The provision for credit losses ratio on impaired loans was 27 basis points, a decrease of two basis points.

Provision on performing loans was $92 million, compared to a net reversal of $8 million, an increase of $100 million of which $55 million related to commercial and $45 million related to retail. This is due primarily to the unfavourable macroeconomic outlook driven by the COVID-19 pandemic and its estimated future impact on credit migration.

Q4 2020 vs Q3 2020
The provision for credit losses was $330 million, compared to $752 million, down $422 million or 56%. The provision for credit losses ratio decreased 48 basis points to 37 basis points.

Provision on impaired loans was $238 million compared to $317 million, down $79 million or 25% due to lower retail and commercial banking provisions. The provision for credit losses ratio on impaired loans was 27 basis points, a decrease of nine basis points.

Provision on performing loans was $92 million, compared to $435 million, a decrease of $343 million. Retail provision decreased by $249 million while commercial provisions decreased $94 million. The decrease was driven primarily by stabilizing portfolio credit quality and improving macroeconomic outlook.

Non-interest expenses
Q4 2020 vs Q4 2019
Non-interest expenses were $1,186 million, down $34 million or 3%, driven mainly by lower advertising and business travel costs, and the impact of cost control initiatives, partially offset by higher personnel costs to support business development.

Q4 2020 vs Q3 2020
Non-interest expenses were up $14 million or 1%, largely due to higher technology costs to support business development.

Provision for income taxes
The effective tax rate of 26.0% compared to 26.2% in the prior year and 25.5% in the prior quarter.

Average Assets
Q4 2020 vs Q4 2019
Average assets grew $14 billion or 4% to $363 billion. The growth included $13 billion or 6% in residential mortgages and $3 billion or 6% in business loans and acceptances, offset partially by reductions in personal loans and credit cards.

Q4 2020 vs Q3 2020
Average assets of $363 billion were up $4 billion. The growth included $5 billion or 2% in residential mortgages partially offset by a decline of $1 billion or 2% in business loans and acceptances.

Average Liabilities
Q4 2020 vs Q4 2019
Average liabilities increased $32 billion or 12%, including growth of $18 billion or 11% in personal deposits and $13 billion or 16% in non-personal deposits.

Q4 2020 vs Q3 2020
Average liabilities increased $12 billion or 4%, including growth of $4 billion or 2% in personal deposits and $8 billion or 9% in non-personal deposits.