MONTREAL _ Power Financial Corp. says its net earnings increased 21 per cent to $586 million in the first quarter due to a strong performance by Great-West Lifeco Inc.
The Montreal-based company _ whose main subsidiaries are insurer Great-West Life and fund manager IGM Financial _ says it earned 82 cents per share for the period ended March 31, compared with 68 cents per share of $484 million a year earlier.
Excluding one-time items, adjusted profits grew by 17 per cent or $85 million from $501 million or 70 cents per share in the first quarter of 2017.
The results were announced before its annual meeting.
The year’s adjusted net profits included $495 million from Great-West, $107 million from IGM Financial and $44 million from Pargesa Holding SA. That compared with $419 million, $104 million and $43 million respectively in the same period last year.
Great-West sales grew seven per cent to $34.6 billion while fee and other income rose six per cent to $1.4 billion, driven by strong market performance in the U.S.
IGM Financial posted record first-quarter net sales of $1.4 billion.
Power Financial held a 67.7 per cent economic interest in Great-West, 61.4 per cent in IGM Financial, 27.8 per cent Pargesa and 81.6 per cent in Wealthsimple, a Toronto-based digital wealth management firm.
Power Financial is the main subsidiary of holding company Power Corporation of Canada, which also has investments in renewable power and media properties.
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Power Corp. holds an investment in The Canadian Press as part of a joint agreement with a subsidiary of the Globe and Mail and Torstar Corp.
