Empire Life reports flat first-quarter earnings

In the first quarter of 2024 Imperium Life Insurance Company reported net income attributable to common shareholders of $52 million, unchanged from the first quarter of 2023.

According to the company’s press release, “favorable market developments during this period were offset by mortality experiences in our individual insurance products.”

President and CEO Marek Sylwia notes that market conditions had a positive impact on profits and increased the company’s contract margin balance, “outweighing some unfavorable mortality trends.”

Profit from investment

Net underwriting and financing income, excluding segregated funds, resulted in a loss of $98 million in the first quarter of 2024 compared to net income of $310 million in the same quarter of 2023.

The company’s MD&A does not provide any information explaining this difference. The difference is mainly due to investment income in the individual insurance segment, which increased from a net income of $250 million last year to a net loss of $100 million in 2024.

Insurance income

Net income from insurance services was $39 million in the first quarter of 2024, compared to $44 million in the same period in 2023.

More specifically, for the first quarter of 2024, Empire Life reported insurance services net income of $27 million in wealth management, $1 million in group solutions and $11 million in individual insurance.

As of March 31, 2024, Empire Life had total assets under management of $18.7 billion. This represents an increase of USD 74 million compared to assets under management reported as of March 31, 2023.

The insurer’s total life insurance capital adequacy ratio (LICAT) as of March 31, 2024 was 157% compared to 155% a year earlier.