Here are the top reads on deals and financial services over the last 24 hours,
BANK EARNINGS
Scotiabank posts profit slightly below forecasts, but expects to beat growth targets in 2019: Bank of Nova Scotia is optimistic of beating its growth targets next year, chief executive Brian Porter said after the bank posted fourth-quarter results which were marginally below forecasts on Tuesday. Canada’s third-biggest lender reported adjusted earnings per share of $1.77 in the quarter ended Oct. 31, up 8 per cent but short of the average analyst forecast of $1.79 per share, according to IBES data from Refinitiv. Story (for subscribers)
Scotiabank’s new focus: Bank of Nova Scotia signalled that it will take a breather from major acquisitions, after racking up deals totalling nearly $7-billion over the past year. Story (Tim Kiladze, for subscribers)
Scotiabank’s exit from Caribbean insurance opens door for Sagicor in Canada: Bank of Nova Scotia’s decision to exit the life insurance market in Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago paved the way Tuesday for one of the Caribbean’s oldest and largest insurers, Sagicor Financial Corp., to make its debut on Canadian markets. Barbados-based Sagicor is paying US$203-million for Scotiabank’s insurance operations in two of the Caribbean’s most populous countries, along with a 20-year agreement to sell its products to the bank’s clients in the two countries. Story (Andrew Willis, for subscribers)
Scotiabank confident in loan book’s ability to withstand oil uncertainty: Alberta’s energy slump is sparking fears about contagion spreading to the broader economy and the big banks, but Bank of Nova Scotia, the first major bank to report earnings for the quarter ended Oct. 31, says it is confident its loan book will withstand the commodity cycle. Story (Alexandra Posadzki, for subscribers)
Why Scotiabank looks like the best bank stock to buy right now: You might be tempted to invest in Bank of Nova Scotia because of its big dividend yield, low valuation or large emerging-markets footprint. But here’s a better reason: The stock is a dud. Story (David Berman, for subscribers)
MORE FINANCIAL SERVICES NEWS
Questrade Wealth settles with Ontario Securities Commission for $3-million: Questrade Wealth Management Inc. has agreed to pay $3-million in fines after investment regulators found the company failed to shield clients from a possible conflict of interest following the sale of its exchange-traded funds business to WisdomTree Investments Inc. Story (Clare O’Hara, for subscribers)
MORE DEALS NEWS
Caisse buys $200-million stake in Montreal travel software firm Plusgrade: On Wednesday, the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is announcing it has bought an undisclosed stake in Ken Harris’s nine-year-old Montreal-based Plusgrade LP, valuing a software company that has been described as an “eBay for business class airline tickets” at more than $600-million. It’s the largest investment into a Canadian private technology firm this year, and the latest in a string of big-ticket investments by the Quebec pension management giant. Story (Sean Silcoff, for subscribers)
Investors in two Fortress housing projects strike deals for payout: Investors who helped finance two Fortress Real Developments Inc. housing projects will get most of their loans repaid under new settlement offers, providing positive news for some Fortress investors while others still face the prospect of large losses as senior lenders seize control of numerous projects. Story (Janet McFarland, for subscribers)
Oil sector: Ensign Energy Services Inc. says it will take control of Trinidad Drilling Ltd. after acquiring a majority of the company’s shares by its Tuesday deadline. Story (for subscribers)
Financing: Sears Holdings Corp won court approval on Tuesday for a new deal clinching US$350-million in critical bankruptcy financing that will keep the 125-year-old retailer operating through the holidays while it attempts to reorganize. Story (for subscribers)
Mining sector: La Mancha Group plans to buy more underground gold mines in Africa and is ready to snap up mines that Barrick Gold and Randgold Resources will sell after their merger, its billionaire chairman Naguib Sawiris said on Tuesday. Story
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: BOARD GAMES
The Globe and Mail’s comprehensive ranking of Canada’s corporate boards: For the 17th year in a row, Report on Business has rated the work of Canada’s corporate boards using a rigorous set of governance criteria designed to go far beyond minimum mandatory rules imposed by regulators. Tables (for subscribers)
How we ranked Canada’s corporate boards: Methodology
Growing up: Cannabis firms fall short on corporate governance: After months of focusing on how to grow marijuana, publicly-traded pot producers are facing a new problem: how to grow up. One of the key next steps in the industry’s evolution from outlaw business to legal industry is to bolster corporate governance – the set of best practices in how a board manages a corporation, and the disclosures that let investors know it’s being done right. Story (David Milstead, for subscribers)
Why three of Canada’s Big Cannabis firms scored low on corporate governance rankings: Explainer
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