(April 26 – 17:40 ET) – Great-West Lifeco Inc. is reporting strong first quarter results for the period ending March 31. Net income attributable to common shareholders was $166 million or 45¢ a share, an increase of 19% over 2000.

Total premiums and deposits were up 9%. Return on common shareholders’ equity was 18.7% for the twelve months ended March 31. Total assets under administration increased 3% to $93.5 billion from a year ago.

Consolidated net earnings for Lifeco include the net operating earnings of The Great-West Life Assurance Co. in Canada and Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Company in the United States.

For the first quarter of 2001, Great-West’s net operating earnings increased 24% to $75 million from $60 million in 2000. Including the net Canadian portion of Lifeco corporate results, Canadian consolidated net earnings of Lifeco for the first quarter of 2001 were $75 million compared to $58 million a year ago.

For the first quarter of 2001, GWL&A’s net operating earnings increased 13% to US $62 million from US $55 million in 2000. Translated to equivalent Canadian dollars, and including the United States portion of Lifeco corporate results, United States consolidated net earnings of Lifeco for the first quarter of 2001 were $91 million compared to $83 million a year ago.

“When you look at our businesses in Canada, we achieved excellent earnings growth of over 20%,” said Raymond McFeetors, president & CEO, Great-West Life.

Total premiums and deposits for the first three months of 2001 were lower than in 2000 due to investment market pressures for individual segregated funds and large group segregated case sales in 2000 not repeated in 2001. However, first quarter premiums for risk-based products were up 2% in total.

Fee income increased 10% in the first quarter of 2001 compared to 2000, mainly due to the increase in segregated fund fees.

Total assets under administration remained relatively constant at $51.8 billion compared with December 31, 2000. General funds assets increased 2%, while segregated funds assets, which are presented at market values, were lower by 3%, reflecting the change in equity markets during the first quarter.


At its meeting today, the Lifeco board of directors approved a quarterly dividend of 18.5¢ per share on the common shares of the company.