Power Financial reports $478M Q4 profit, raises quarterly dividend

Power Financial Corp. announced a quarterly dividend increase Wednesday as it reported a fourth-quarter profit of $478 million.

The Montreal-based company’s quarterly payment to shareholders will go up by 5.2% to 45.55 cents per common share.

Power Financial also reported a profit of $0.67 per share for the quarter ended Dec. 31 compared with a profit of $225 million or $0.32 per share in the last three months of 2017.

On an adjusted basis, the company said it earned $460 million or $0.65 per share for the quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $547 million or $0.77 per share a year earlier.

Analysts on average had expected a profit of $0.77 per share, according to Thomson Reuters Eikon.

For the 12 months ended Dec. 31, the company reported profit of $2.245 billion or $3.15 per share, compared with $1.717 billion or $2.41 per share in 2017. On an adjusted basis, the company earned $2.282 billion or $3.20 per share, compared with $2.135 billion or $2.99 per share in 2017.

Power Financial holds majority stakes in Great-West Lifeco, IGM Financial and Wealthsimple Financial Corp., as well as a minority stake in Pargesa Holding.

For the fourth quarter, Great-West Lifeco had net earnings and adjusted net earnings attributable to common shareholders of $710 million, or $0.72 per share, compared with net earnings of $392 million or $0.40 per share, and adjusted net earnings of $734 million or $0.74 per share in 2017.

The decrease is primarily due to the impact of equity market declines in the fourth quarter of 2018 partially offset by strong underlying business results, the firm said in a release.

For the year, Great-West Lifeco had net earnings attributable to common shareholders of $2.961 billion or $3.00 per share, compared with $2.149 billion or $2.17 per share in 2017. Adjusted net earnings attributable to common shareholders were $3.017 billion or $3.05 per share, compared with $2.647 billion or $2.68 per share in 2017.

IGM Financial had fourth-quarter net earnings and adjusted net earnings of $179.9 million or $0.75 per share, compared with net earnings of $50.6 million, or $0.21 per share, and adjusted net earnings of $191.4 million or $0.79 per share in 2017. Other items not included in adjusted net earnings in the fourth quarter of 2017 were restructuring and other charges of $140.8 million.

IGM’s assets under management at Dec. 31, 2018, were $149.1 billion, a decrease of 6.7% in the quarter and 4.8% from the prior year primarily due to negative investment returns consistent with industry results, the release said.

For the year, IGM’s net earnings available to common shareholders were $767.3 million or $3.18 per share, compared with $601.9 million or $2.50 per share in 2017. Adjusted net earnings were $791.8 million or $3.29 per share, compared with $727.8 million or $3.02 per share in 2017.

For more details, see the company’s release.

Staff, with files from The Canadian Press

The Canadian Press is a national news agency headquartered in Toronto and founded in 1917.