Quebec City-based iA Financial Group exceeded earnings expectations in the third quarter.
The firm reported diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.72, an increase of 15% from $1.50 per share in the same quarter last year. This was the second straight quarter that EPS grew by 15% or more and return on equity was above target range, the company said in a release.
iA Insurance recorded a net income of $183.4 million, up from $164.9 million the same time last year, due to increased revenues in net premiums and investment income.
Expected profit on in-force insurance policies increased to $206.9 million, representing an increase of 14% year over year. iA Financial attributed this growth to its U.S. operations and group insurance, which were up by 35% and 24%, respectively.
Individual insurance also saw positive results, with an experience gain of $0.05 EPS, or $5.8 million, resulting from favourable policy holder experience (+$0.03 EPS), favourable morbidity (+$0.02 EPS), and positive market impact on universal insurance policies (+$0.01 EPS), among other factors.
Individual wealth management saw a gain of $4.5 million (+$0.04 EPS) thanks to the positive market impact on iA’s segregated fund hedging program.
Premiums and deposits of more than $2.7 billion were up 15% year over year, due to growth in iA’s individual wealth management and group savings and retirement lines of business. The firm saw an increase in assets under management and administration, which rose to $187.1 billion in the third quarter, up 2% since Q2 and 6% year over year.