Feb 25 (Reuters) - Canadian lender Bank of Nova Scotia ( BNS )

reported a fall in its first-quarter profit on Tuesday,

hit by an impairment loss on its deal of handing over its Latin

American operations to Colombian bank Davivienda.

It reported a profit of C$993 million ($696.01 million), or

66 Canadian cents apiece, for the quarter ended January 31,

compared with C$2.2 billion, or C$1.68 per share, in the

year-ago period.

($1 = 1.4267 Canadian dollars)