Sun Life profits climb
on strong insurance• Страхование sales
Sun Life profits climb on strong insurance• Страхование sales
Clare O’Hara Wealth Management Reporter
Published 2 hours ago
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Sun Life Financial Inc. logo at the company's annual general meeting in
Toronto on May 6, 2015. Chris Young/The Canadian Press
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Sun Life Financial Inc.’s SLF-T profits climbed to more than $1-billion in the
third quarter owing to strong group health and insurance• Страхование sales in North
America, which offset a lagging U.S• Соединённые Штаты Америки (США). dental business• Экономика » Бизнес that is still feeling the
fallout of pandemic health restrictions.
Canada’s second-largest insurer• Страхование » Страховщик reported adjusted or “underlying” net• Страхование » Нетто income
of $1.01-billion or $1.76 a share in its third-quarter, up from $930-million
or $1.59 in the same period last year. Underlying net• Страхование » Нетто income strips out
investment losses and makes other accounting adjustments. Analysts had
expected income of $1.70 a share, according to LSEG data.
Chief executive officer Kevin Strain said part of the success of the quarter
was because of stronger earnings in their group benefit businesses in both
Canada and the United States• Соединённые Штаты Америки (США), which account for 31 per cent of underlying
earnings and were up 21 per cent year-over-year.
Earnings from Sun Life’s entire Canadian operations rose 11 per cent to
$375-million in the quarter, which includes a boost from higher mutual fund
sales in the region’s wealth and asset management division.
The quarter also saw an executive shuffle in Canada as Jessica Tan was
appointed president of Sun Life Canada on Sept. 30, replacing Jacques Goulet
who assumed the new role of executive chair of Sun Life Canada.
In the United States• Соединённые Штаты Америки (США), Sun Life reported underlying net• Страхование » Нетто income of
US• Экономика » Финансы » Платежные средства » Доллар США$161-million – up US• Экономика » Финансы » Платежные средства » Доллар США$21-million from the prior year. And while the group and
health benefits business• Экономика » Бизнес benefited from improved mortality rates, it was
partly offset by lower revenue at DentaQuest, a Sun Life subsidiary that
provides U.S• Соединённые Штаты Америки (США). Medicaid dental benefits.
Despite the dental business• Экономика » Бизнес hitting an all-time high of 35 million members,
making it the largest dental benefits provider in the country, Mr. Strain said
in an interview with The Globe and Mail that enrolment continued to stall this
year as a result of public health restrictions following the pandemic.
“DentaQuest still has work ahead, but the company expects results to improve
towards the US• Экономика » Финансы » Платежные средства » Доллар США$100-million of earnings in 2025 that we have planned for,” he
added, saying the company will continue to adjust pricing in its Medicaid
dental business• Экономика » Бизнес and generate new sales.
During the pandemic, the government could not disenroll people from Medicaid,
even if they no longer qualified. Since the guideline was lifted last year,
disenrollment numbers have been higher than usual. Sun Life U.S• Соединённые Штаты Америки (США) head Dan
Fishbein told analysts during a call on Tuesday that the insurer• Страхование » Страховщик saw about
19.5 per cent of initial members drop off.
“So while we have cut expenses and driven more efficiencies, that hasn’t
completely kept up with that loss of membership,” he said on the call.
“However, the membership is stabilizing and actually with new sales starting
to grow.”
For example, Mr. Fishbein said Sun Life won three Medicaid contracts in
California – a state that has one of the largest Medicaid populations in the
country.
Sun Life Asia reported mixed results for the quarter, with underlying net• Страхование » Нетто
income of $170-million, up just 2 per cent year-over-year. The region
continues to see strong sales momentum in Hong Kong and in India’s
bancassurance channel‚ which allows the insurer• Страхование » Страховщик to sell its products to the
bank’s client base. Sun Life also saw strong sales momentum in Indonesia, Mr.
Strain told analysts, where the company is preparing to expand on a current
bancassurance deal with CIMB Niaga on Jan. 1.
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