Sun Life Financial Inc. SLF delivered a fourth-quarter 2024 underlying net income of $1.20 per share, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3.2%. Moreover, the bottom line decreased 2.4% year over year.
See the Zacks Earnings Calendar to stay ahead of market-making news.
The underlying net income was $689.6 million (C$965 million), which decreased 2% year over year. The decrease was attributable to a decline in Group - Health & Protection underlying net income.
Revenues declined 60.9% year over year to $5.9 billion. The figure missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 11.9%.
Sun Life Financial Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Sun Life Financial Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Sun Life Financial Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Sun Life Financial Inc. Quote
Wealth sales & asset management gross flows increased 33.3% year over year to $43.6 billion (C$61 billion) in the quarter under review.
The new business contractual service margin was $218.6 million (C$306 million), down 19.7% year over year.
SLF’s Segment Results
SLF Canada’s underlying net income increased 22.4% year over year to $261.6 million (C$366 million), driven by better performance in Wealth & asset management and Individual - Protection. Sales were down at both the business units. Wealth sales & asset management gross flows of $3.5 billion (C$4.9 billion) were down 9% year over year.
SLF U.S.’ underlying net income was $161 million, which decreased 36.4% year over year. The decline was attributable to soft performance at Group - Health & Protection as well as Individual – Protection.
U.S. group sales of $830 million were down 11%, indicating lower Dental, employee benefits and medical stop-loss sales. Dental sales primarily reflected lower Medicaid sales.
SLF Asset Management reported an underlying net income of $257 million (C$360 million), which grew 8.8% year over year, driven by higher fee income from higher ANA partially offset by higher expenses. Asset Management AUM of $779 billion ($1,121.3 billion) increased 10% year over year, driven by net asset value change. SLC Management's AUM increased 12% year over year to $18.8 billion (C$27 billion).
SLF Asia reported an underlying net income of $125 million (C$175 million), which grew 22.4% year over year, driven by better results in Wealth & asset management and Individual – Protection.
Individual sales of $429 million (C$601 million) were up 10%, driven by higher sales in International, due to a large case sale in India, reflecting growth in the bancassurance and direct-to-consumer channels, and Hong Kong from growth in agency and bancassurance channels.
Wealth sales & asset management gross flows were in line with the prior year, as higher money market fund sales in the Philippines and higher Mandatory Provident Fund sales in Hong Kong were offset by lower fixed-income fund sales in India.
New business CSM of $139 million (C$201 million) declined due to business mix.
SLF’s Financial Update
Global assets under management were $1.1 trillion (C$1,542 billion), up 10% year over year.
Sun Life Assurance’s Life Insurance Capital Adequacy Test (“LICAT”) ratio was 146% as of Dec. 31, 2024, which expanded 500 basis points (bps) from Jan. 1, 2023. Sun Life Financial’s LICAT ratio was 152%, expanded 300 bps year over year.
Sun Life’s return on equity was 13.6% in 2024, which contracted 90 bps year over year.
The underlying return on equity of 17.2% contracted 60 bps year over year.
The leverage ratio of 20.1% improved 140 bps year over year.
SLF’s Dividend Update
In the reported quarter, the company’s board of directors approved a dividend of 84 cents per share.
SLF’s Zacks Rank
SLF currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Performance of Other Insurers
Voya Financial, Inc. VOYA reported fourth-quarter 2024 adjusted operating earnings of $1.50 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 111.3%. The bottom line decreased 23.8% year over year. The decline was due to higher loss ratios in Stop Loss in Health Solutions and lower spread-based assets in Wealth Solutions. It was partially offset by growth in fee-based revenues in Wealth Solutions and Investment Management, and higher alternative investment income.
Adjusted operating revenues amounted to $1.9 billion, which increased 12.5% year over year. As of Dec. 31, 2024, VOYA’s assets under management, and assets under administration and advisement totaled $893.5 million.
Unum Group’s UNM fourth-quarter 2024 operating net income of $2.03 per share missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4.7%. The bottom line increased 13.4% year over year. Total operating revenues of Unum Group were $3.2 billion, up 2.5% year over year, driven by higher premium income, other income and improved net investment income. The top line missed the consensus estimate by 1.5%.
Premium increased 3.1% from the prior-year quarter to $2.6 billion, which matched the Zacks Consensus Estimate. UNM expects after-tax adjusted operating income per share to grow 8-12% in 2025. Core operations premium growth is expected between 4% and 7%.
Lincoln National Corporation LNC reported fourth-quarter 2024 adjusted earnings per share of $1.91, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 9.8%. The bottom line advanced nearly 30% year over year. Adjusted operating revenues were $4.6 billion, which more than doubled year over year. However, the top line fell short of the consensus mark by 1%.
LNC’s estimated RBC ratio rose to more than 430% at the fourth-quarter end. Insurance premiums totaled $1.59 billion, while the metric was recorded at a negative figure of $1.1 billion. However, the figure was lower than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.62 billion.
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
