World News – CA – Scotiabank, BMO outperformed estimates on less-than-feared provisions

TORONTO (Reuters) – The Bank of Nova Scotia and the Bank of Montreal (BMO) beat analysts’ estimates for fourth quarter earnings with less than expected funds to cover potential credit losses from COVID-19 Deploy pandemic.

Canadian banks have braced themselves for higher credit losses this year and 2021 as the pandemic devastated the global economy and resulted in lower household incomes. A drop in oil prices should also lead to higher defaults in the energy sector.

However, both banks, which reported Tuesday, put far less aside than analysts had expected in the quarter through October. 31, while BMO also said it would run its non-Canadian investment and corporate energy business to cut costs.

« Going forward, BMO Capital Market’s energy business will focus on the Canadian energy market, where we believe our competitive position is strongest, » said a bank spokesman.

Scotiabank reported a provision for credit losses of $ 1. 13 billion ($ 871). 04 million. ) compared to analyst expectations of 1 CAD. 44 billion, refinitive IBES data showed.

BMO’s results also benefited from the strong performance of the wealth management and capital markets businesses, which increased net income attributable to the bank’s shareholders by 33% to $ 1. 58 billion or C $ 2. 37 per share.

Adjusted, the bank made a profit of CAD 2. 41 per share, beating estimates of CAD 1. 90 per share.

Scotiabank’s adjusted net income attributable to shareholders fell to $ 1. 8 billion ($ 1). 46 billion. ) or 1 CAD. 45 per share but higher than estimates of $ 1. 22 one share.

Reporting by Nichola Saminather in Toronto and Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru. Editing by Jane Merriman and Aditya Soni

All offers were delayed by at least 15 minutes. A full list of exchanges and delays can be found here.

Scotiabank, Capital Markets, Earnings, Thomson Reuters Corporation