Bank of Nova Scotia reported record earnings for the third quarter of 2003, with a net income of $626 million – an increase of 11% or $62 million from the $564 million reported in 2002.

But it said total assets for the year are down. As of July 31, total assets were $282 billion, down $18 billion from 2002. Scotiabank said the decrease is a direct result of the strong performance of the Canadian dollar over the past year.

Peter Godsoe, chairman and CEO, said all three major businesses — domestic banking, its investment dealer Scotia Capital and international banking — did well.

“Our third quarter results demonstrate the strength of our diversified earnings streams and our business lines’ ability to deliver record earnings, even during periods of challenging market and credit conditions,” Godsoe said in a statememt.

Domestic banking, which includes wealth management, posted net income of $272 million in the third quarter, up 4% over last year. Earnings represented 43% of the bank’s total net income this quarter. Scotia Capital earnings, meanwhile, jumped almost 41% to $193 million in the third quarter over a year ago.

Net income in the international banking unit fell $37 million to $175 million in the quarter from last year, “with the translation effect of a strong Canadian dollar being the major factor,” the bank said. It noted, however, results rose $4 million over the prior quarter, notwithstanding the further strengthening of the C$ against the U.S. dollar this quarter.

For the nine-month period, net income was $1.8 billion, up 49.6% from 2002’s $1.2 billion for the same period. Income for 2002 was largely effected by to charges related to Scotiabank Quilmes, the bank’s Argentinean operation that was sold following political and economic turmoil in the country.