Irish Life earnings up nearly 12%

Irish Life generated earnings of CAD$57m (€38m) in the second quarter of its current financial year, up almost 12% on the preceding quarter.

As part of its second-quarter results published yesterday parent company, Canadian insurance giant, Great-West Lifeco said Irish Life continued to generate strong results over the three months to the end of June.

Great-West completed its €1.3bn purchase of Irish Life 12 months ago — marking what Finance Minister Michael Noonan called “a historic transaction” as it represented the first nationalised institution to be re-sold by the Government into private hands.

Since the closing of the deal, Irish Life — which, apparently, had attracted around 50 expressions of interest before the Canadian group landed it — has contributed a total of CAD$194m (€133m) to its parent’s total earnings; something it said demonstrates the strength of its position in the Irish life, investment and pensions market.

“We are delighted to have made a significant contribution to Great-West Lifeco in the second quarter, fuelled by excellent growth in our three core business lines — retail, corporate business and investment management,” said Irish Life chief executive, Bill Kyle, yesterday.

“The integration of Irish Life and Canada Life in the Irish market continues on track with the move of 300 employees from the former Canada Life office in Blackrock into the Irish Life campus on Abbey Street, where our €12m refurbishment project is under way.

“To the end of June 2014, €28.1m, or 70%, of the expected synergies from the integration process have been achieved,” he added.

To date, 52% of the expected €60m restructuring costs have been incurred — during the second quarter, Great-West Lifeco incurred €5.3m of Irish Life-related restructuring costs — and full integration activities are expected to result in an annual reduction of Irish Life-related operating costs by €40m.

The latest figures also show that Irish Life generated CAD$2.1bn (€1.4bn) of sales and CAD$153m (€102m) of Great-West Lifeco’s fee income for the second-quarter period.

Also during the period, Irish Life picked up two prestigious category wins in the 2014 European Pension Awards, for its investment management expertise.