Power Financial Corp. said Monday its profits for the first quarter of 2005 rose 13.1% in the first quarter as revenue jumped 20.5%.

The Montreal-based holding company said for the three months ended March 31, earnings were $379 million (52¢ per diluted share) vs $335 million (46¢) a year ago. Revenue jumped to $6.9 billion from $5.8 billion.

Power Financial said growth in earnings “reflects an increase in operating earnings of its subsidiaries and affiliate. The company has major assets in insurance and mutual funds companies, including Great-West Lifeco Inc., IGM Financial Inc. and Pargesa Holding S.A.

Last week, Great-West Lifeco said its profits rose to $419 million in the first quarter vs $376 million. IGM Financial reported first-quarter profits of $160.7 million vs $147.9 million.

Power Financial’s board of directors also declared a quarterly dividend of 21.75¢ per share, payable Aug. 1, an increase of 1.5¢ per share over the previous quarterly rate of 20.25¢.

Power Financial also announced it has appointed Robert Gratton as chairman of the board and Jeffrey Orr as president and CEO of the company. Paul Desmarais, Jr, who has been chairman of the board since 1990, becomes chairman of the executive committee of the board.

The appointments took following Power Financial’s annual meeting Monday in Montréal. Orr has been president and CEO of IGM Financial since May 2001.

Desmarais said in a statement the Gratton and Orr “will have the mandate to pursue the corporation’s goal of building long-term value for our shareholders, and the management responsibilities that flow from it. Mr. Gratton and Mr. Orr will work as a team and will share the duties and responsibilities as circumstances dictate, to maximize the impact of Power Financial’s contribution to our group of companies.”