ScotiaBank, Canada’s third largest bank, has just posted significant Q4 08 losses. Net income was $315 million ($0.28 EPS), down from $954 million ($0.95 EPS) year over year. Analysts were expecting $0.35 EPS. Scotiabank took significant write downs of $595 million net of tax in Nov because of the financial crisis which saw the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the impairment of debt and equity securities. The bank still sees modest growth and is expecting a return on equity of close to 20% for 2009, though did cautiously cite unprecedented uncertainty concerning the future in this volatile time. Scotiabank earned a return on equity of 16.7% in 2008.