Sun Life Financial reports third quarter results
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Note to Editors: All figures shown in Canadian dollars unless otherwise
noted.
TORONTO, Nov. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSX/NYSE: SLF) reported a net loss of $140 million for the third quarter of 2009, compared with a net loss of $396 million in the same period last year. The diluted loss per share was $0.25 compared to a diluted loss per share of $0.71 in the third quarter of 2008. Return on equity was negative 3.5% for the third quarter of 2009.
The net loss in the third quarter of 2009 was primarily driven by the implementation of certain equity- and interest rate-related actuarial assumption updates previously announced on August 6, 2009. While favourable equity markets provided some earnings momentum, third quarter results were adversely affected by reserve increases for downgrades on the Company's investment portfolio.
The Board of Directors of Sun Life Financial today declared a quarterly shareholder dividend of $0.36 per common share, maintaining its current quarterly dividend.
"There is underlying strength in our business but we continue to face challenging economic headwinds," said Donald A. Stewart, Chief Executive Officer, Sun Life Financial. "Earnings in the third quarter were negatively impacted by previously announced actuarial assumption updates as well as credit markets." He added, "There are encouraging signs of progress including strong net flows and asset levels which reached a 12-month high at MFS. Our Canadian business reflects a strong brand and distribution, our U.S. business continues to benefit from enhanced distribution and strong annuity sales, and we are well positioned in our international markets."
MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION & ANALYSIS
For the period ended September 30, 2009
Dated November 5, 2009
Earnings and Profitability
The financial results presented in this document are unaudited.
FINANCIAL SUMMARY
Quarterly Results Year to date
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q3'09 Q2'09 Q1'09 Q4'08 Q3'08 2009 2008
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Common shareholders'
net income (loss)
($ millions) (140) 591 (213) 129 (396) 238 656
Operating earnings
(loss)(1)
($ millions) (140) 591 (186) (696) (396) 265 656
Basic earnings
(loss) per common
share (EPS) ($) (0.25) 1.06 (0.38) 0.23 (0.71) 0.42 1.17
Diluted EPS ($) (0.25) 1.05 (0.38) 0.23 (0.71) 0.42 1.14
Diluted operating
EPS(1) ($) (0.25) 1.05 (0.33) (1.25) (0.71) 0.47 1.14
Return on common
equity (ROE) (%) (3.5) 14.9 (5.5) 3.3 (10.2) 2.0 5.6
Operating ROE(1) (3.5) 14.9 (4.7) (17.9) (10.2) 2.2 5.6
Average common
shares
outstanding
(millions) 560.8 559.8 559.7 559.7 559.7 560.1 561.7
Closing common
shares
outstanding
(millions) 562.4 560.7 559.7 559.7 559.7 562.4 559.7
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sun Life Financial Inc.(2) reported a net loss attributable to common shareholders of $140 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2009, compared with a net loss of $396 million in the third quarter of 2008. Net losses in the third quarter of 2009 were impacted by the implementation of equity- and interest rate-related actuarial assumption updates of $513 million and reserve increases of $194 million for downgrades on the Company's investment portfolio. These decreases were partially offset by reserve releases of $161 million as a result of favourable equity markets. Results in the third quarter of 2008 were impacted primarily by asset impairments and credit-related losses and a steep decline in equity markets. Results last year also included earnings of $31 million or $0.06 per share from the Company's 37% ownership interest in CI Financial, which the Company sold in the fourth quarter of 2008.
Return on equity (ROE) for the third quarter of 2009 was negative 3.5% compared with negative 10.2% for the third quarter of 2008. The change in ROE resulted from a loss per share of $0.25 in the third quarter of 2009, versus a loss per share of $0.71 reported in the same period one year ago.
Common shareholders' net income for the first nine months of 2009 was $238 million, compared to $656 million in the same period in 2008. Net income in the first nine months of 2009 was impacted primarily from the negative impact of the implementation of equity- and interest rate-related actuarial assumption updates of $513 million in the third quarter of 2009, reserve increases for downgrades on the Company's investment portfolio and net credit impairments. These decreases were partially offset by net reserve releases from equity market and interest rate movements. Results for the first nine months of 2008 included asset impairments and credit-related losses, as well as earnings of $100 million from the Company's 37% ownership interest in CI Financial.
Operating earnings for the first nine months of 2009 were $265 million, compared to $656 million in the first nine months of 2008. Operating earnings for the first nine months of 2009 excluded after-tax charges of $27 million for restructuring costs taken as part of the Company's efforts to reduce expense levels and improve operational efficiency.
Impact of Certain Actuarial Assumption Updates
Management makes judgments involving assumptions and estimates relating to the Company's obligations to policyholders, some of which relate to matters that are inherently uncertain. The Company's benefit payment obligations are estimated over the life of its annuity and insurance products, based on internal valuation models, and are recorded in its financial statements, primarily in the form of actuarial liabilities. The determination of these obligations is fundamental to the financial results and requires management to make assumptions about a number of factors over the life of its products. The Company reviews these assumptions each year, generally in the third and fourth quarters, and revises these assumptions, if appropriate.
Following the second quarter of 2009, the Company announced that it would review and update the equity and interest rate assumptions used to value its variable annuity, segregated fund and certain fixed annuity and individual life liabilities in the third quarter (equity and interest rate assumption updates). Equity related assumption updates, which are part of an annual process to update the Company's economic assumptions with recent data, were driven by the pronounced equity market volatility experienced over the past year. The Company's interest rate-related assumption updates in the third quarter of 2009 were driven primarily by new criteria provided by a committee of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries.
The net result of these updates in the third quarter of 2009 was an unfavourable impact to net income of $513 million, which was within the range of estimates provided in the management's discussion and analysis (MD&A) for the second quarter of 2009. The majority of these non-cash updates consist of actuarial provisions for adverse deviations which will emerge as income over time to the extent that experience in the future is consistent with the Company's current best estimates.
The impact of the implementation of the equity and interest rate assumptions updates on the Minimum Continuing Capital Surplus Requirements (MCCSR) ratio for Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada (Sun Life Assurance) and the Company's equity and interest rate sensitivities can be found in the "Capital Management and Liquidity" and "Market Risk Sensitivity" sections in this MD&A.
Estimated 2010 Normalized Earnings
The information in this section is forward-looking information and estimated normalized earnings is a non-GAAP measure. Additional information on forward-looking information and non-GAAP measures can be found below in the sections "Forward-Looking Statements" and "Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures".
Recent market conditions have resulted in substantial volatility in the Company's reported financial results over the past year. The Company expects that macroeconomic challenges and market volatility will continue for some time. The Company previously generated average annual operating earnings of $2.1 billion from 2005 to 2007. Earnings at this level reflect the corresponding asset and account values in existence at that time and an environment characterized by relatively stable interest rates, rising equity markets and favourable credit conditions. Going forward, earnings are expected to reflect today's lower asset levels and account values as well as higher risk management costs, potential volatility and uncertainty in capital markets, the expected higher levels of capital required by regulators, lower leverage, currency fluctuations and the potential for higher tax costs as governments around the world look to address higher deficits. To reflect these environmental factors and updated expectations, the Company is providing an estimate of 2010 normalized earnings at this time.
Estimated 2010 normalized earnings constitute a financial outlook that estimates full-year 2010 after-tax financial results for the Company based on (i) the estimated emergence during the period of expected profit from the Company's insurance business in-force, based on the achievement of current best-estimate actuarial assumptions, plus estimated expected profit from the Company's asset management businesses, (ii) the estimated impact of writing new business during the period, (iii) estimated investment income earned on the Company's surplus assets, less debt servicing costs, during the period, and (iv) an effective tax rate for the Company during the period of between 18% and 22%. Estimated 2010 normalized earnings are based on economic and other assumptions that include (i) approximately 8% growth in equity markets per annum, (ii) a business mix (including the Company's recent acquisition in the U.K.), foreign currency exchange rates, credit spreads and interest rates consistent with levels as at September 30, 2009(3), and (iii) investment returns, tax rates, capital requirements, mortality/morbidity experience and policyholder behaviour consistent with the Company's current best-estimate actuarial assumptions. Estimated 2010 normalized earnings do not include management actions and changes in assumptions for the valuation of actuarial liabilities, gains and losses and other items outside the range of current best-estimate assumptions, such as the market impact on segregated fund guarantees, credit impairments, changes in credit ratings on the Company's fixed income portfolio, and investment-related gains and losses, the net effect of which the Company cannot reliably estimate.
Estimated 2010 normalized earnings are based on the assumptions about future economic and other conditions, qualifications and courses of action described in this section and elsewhere in this MD&A. Reported financial results in 2010 may differ materially from estimated 2010 normalized earnings for a variety of reasons, including changes to the economic and other assumptions used to estimate 2010 normalized earnings, and actual economic and other experience before and during 2010 that is different than the Company's estimates. The Company is subject to a number of sources of volatility that are described elsewhere in this MD&A, which may cause normalized earnings to be outside of the range of the estimate. Information related to estimated 2010 normalized earnings should be read in conjunction with the information contained in the "Market Risk Sensitivity" and "Outlook" sections of this MD&A, "Risk Factors" in the Company's annual information form (AIF) for the year ended December 31, 2008, and "Critical Accounting Estimates" and "Risk Management" in the Company's annual MD&A.
Subject to the foregoing, the Company estimates normalized earnings for the year ended December 31, 2010 to be in the range of $1.4 billion to $1.7 billion. The Company cannot provide assurance that the Company's reported earnings in 2010 will be within the indicated range.
Impact of Currency
The Company has operations in key markets worldwide, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Indonesia, India, China and Bermuda, and generates earnings in local currencies in these jurisdictions, which are translated into Canadian dollars. The bulk of the Company's exposure to movements in foreign exchange is to the U.S. dollar.
Items impacting the Company's consolidated statement of operations are translated back to Canadian dollars using average exchange rates for the respective period. For items impacting the consolidated balance sheet, period end rates are used for currency translation purposes.
In general, the Company's net income benefits from a weakening Canadian dollar and is adversely affected by a strengthening Canadian dollar as net income from the Company's international operations is translated back to Canadian dollars. In a period of net losses, the weakening of the Canadian dollar can exacerbate losses. The relative impact of currency in any given quarter is driven by the movement in currency rates as well as the proportion of earnings generated in the Company's foreign operations. The Company generally expresses the impact of currency on net income on a year-over-year basis. During the third quarter of 2009 the Canadian dollar appreciated relative to the U.S. dollar compared with the second quarter of 2009; however, the value of the Canadian dollar weakened in the third quarter of 2009 compared with the third quarter of 2008. In the third quarter of 2009, the Company's overall reported net loss increased by $23 million as a result of the weakening of the Canadian dollar relative to the third quarter of 2008.
Performance by Business Group
The Company manages its operations and reports its results in five business segments: Sun Life Financial Canada (SLF Canada), Sun Life Financial U.S. (SLF U.S.), MFS Investment Management (MFS), Sun Life Financial Asia (SLF Asia) and Corporate. Additional detail concerning the segments is outlined in Note 5 to Sun Life Financial Inc.'s interim consolidated financial statements for the quarter ended September 30, 2009, which are prepared in accordance with Canadian generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). Financial information concerning SLF U.S. and MFS is presented below in Canadian and U.S. dollars to facilitate the analysis of underlying business trends.
In the second quarter of 2009 the Company reported credit impairments in the Corporate segment which had not yet been allocated to the Company's business groups. Certain results from the second quarter of 2009 have been adjusted to reflect the allocation of these credit impairments from the Corporate segment to the Company's business groups. By business group, the adjustment impacts second quarter 2009 income as follows: SLF Canada $(7) million, SLF U.S. $(58) million, SLF Asia $(1) million, SLF U.K. $(2) million and Corporate Support $68 million. The restatement has no impact on the Company's total reported income for the second quarter of 2009.
SLF Canada
Quarterly Results Year to date
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q3'09 Q2'09 Q1'09 Q4'08 Q3'08 2009 2008
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Common shareholders'
net income (loss)
($ millions)
Individual
Insurance &
Investments 134 131 77 (130) 28 342 354
Group Benefits 44 52 65 74 81 161 210
Group Wealth 41 27 52 1 48 120 136
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 219 210 194 (55) 157 623 700
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
SLF Canada had net income of $219 million in the third quarter of 2009 compared to net income of $210 million in the second quarter of 2009 and earnings of $157 million in the third quarter of 2008. Earnings in the third quarter of 2009 were impacted primarily by the implementation of equity- and interest rate-related assumption updates in Individual Insurance & Investments, which reduced earnings by $137 million, and unfavourable morbidity experience in Group Benefits. Strong equity market performance and product changes resulted in favourable gains in Individual Insurance & Investments of $152 million, along with gains from interest rate changes and asset placements in the third quarter of 2009.
Results in the third quarter of 2008 included charges of $126 million from the impact of declining equity markets and asset impairments and credit-related losses of $59 million, which predominantly affected Individual Insurance & Investments. These decreases were partially offset by increased interest rates and asset reinvestment gains from wider credit spreads, as well as favourable morbidity experience. Earnings in the third quarter of 2008 included $31 million from the Company's 37% ownership interest in CI Financial, which the Company sold in the fourth quarter of 2008.
Earnings for the first nine months of 2009 were $623 million compared to $700 million for the same period last year. Net income decreased primarily from the implementation of equity- and interest rate-related assumption updates in the third quarter of 2009, lower asset reinvestment gains from changes in credit spreads, less favourable morbidity experience and lower earnings due to the sale of the Company's holdings in CI Financial, partly offset by improvement in the equity markets and asset impairment experience.
In the third quarter of 2009, sales of Individual fixed interest products, including accumulation annuities, GICs and payout annuities, increased 38% from the same period a year ago to $195 million. Individual segregated fund sales declined 26% reflecting lower overall market demand and product changes announced in May of this year. Sales of Individual life and health insurance products matched prior year sales at $38 million, with an improved product mix. Group Benefits continued its positive sales momentum, with sales up 27% to $70 million in the third quarter of 2009. Group Benefits sales in the small and mid-size corporate account market have increased 32% year to date in 2009. In Group Wealth, Group Retirement Services (GRS) sales increased by 16%. Pension rollover sales increased by 40% to $243 million, representing a record 57% retention rate for the quarter. GRS continued to build on its leadership position in the defined contribution (DC) industry in the first half of 2009, capturing 38% of the total DC market activity, as recently reported by LIMRA.
SLF U.S.
Quarterly Results Year to date
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q3'09 Q2'09 Q1'09 Q4'08 Q3'08 2009 2008
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Common shareholders'
net income (loss)
(US$ millions)
Annuities (186) 187 (324) (672) (456) (323) (359)
Individual
Insurance (222) 70 (57) 95 (76) (209) (22)
Employee Benefits
Group 22 30 48 1 30 100 74
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total (US$
millions) (386) 287 (333) (576) (502) (432) (307)
Total (C$ millions) (413) 364 (407) (679) (533) (456) (337)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
SLF U.S. had a net loss of C$413 million in the third quarter of 2009, as compared to net income of C$364 million in the second quarter of 2009 and a net loss of C$533 million in the third quarter of 2008. The weakening of the Canadian dollar against the U.S. dollar increased the reported loss in SLF U.S. by C$22 million in the third quarter of 2009 compared to the third quarter of 2008.
In U.S. dollars, the loss of US$386 million in the third quarter of 2009 compared to the loss of US$502 million in the third quarter of 2008. Results in the third quarter of 2009 were driven primarily by losses in Annuities and Individual Insurance. The losses in the third quarter of 2009 were largely a result of the implementation of equity- and interest rate-related assumption updates of US$295 million and reserve increases of US$167 million for downgrades on the investment portfolio. Further reserve strengthening in Individual Insurance for updates to policyholder behaviour assumptions lowered earnings by US$150 million. The losses in the third quarter of 2009 were partially offset by reserve releases of US$89 million related to favourable equity markets.
Results in the third quarter of 2008 were driven by credit-related losses, including impairments of US$460 million and reserve increases of US$170 million required by changes in capital markets.
The net loss for the first nine months of 2009 was US$432 million, compared to a net loss of US$307 million for the same period last year. Earnings were lower primarily due to the impact of credit-related allowances and credit-related losses in Annuities, the unfavourable impact of the implementation of an internal reinsurance transaction in Individual Insurance for capital efficiency, and the implementation of equity- and interest rate-related assumption updates in the third quarter of 2009. These decreases were partially offset by reserve releases related to favourable equity markets in the second and third quarters of 2009.
Growth initiatives and enhanced distribution have resulted in improved sales performance in SLF U.S. Domestic variable annuity sales in the third quarter were US$1.1 billion, an increase of 128% from the same period one year ago. Changes to the variable annuity product suite were launched in the quarter to de-risk the product and improve profitability, while remaining competitive in the marketplace. Sales of core products in Individual Insurance were up 23% compared to the same period a year ago. While total sales in Individual Insurance were down 36% compared to the same period a year ago, the decrease was due to lower sales of non-core products, primarily bank-owned life insurance. EBG sales of US$90 million in the third quarter of 2009 were higher by 3% as compared to the third quarter of 2008.
MFS Investment Management
Quarterly Results Year to date
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q3'09 Q2'09 Q1'09 Q4'08 Q3'08 2009 2008
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Common shareholders'
net income
(US$ millions) 39 27 23 25 47 89 161
Common shareholders'
net income
(C$ millions) 43 32 28 30 49 103 164
Pre-tax operating
profit margin
ratio(4) 28% 23% 21% 21% 29% 24% 33%
Average net assets
(US$ billions) 162 140 125 133 176 143 185
Assets under
management
(US$ billions) 175 147 124 134 162 175 162
Net sales
(redemptions)
(US$ billions) 7.7 4.9 0.2 (2.1) (2.0) 12.8 (3.7)
Asset appreciation
/(depreciation)
(US$ billions) 20.0 17.9 (10.7) (25.5) (19.4) 27.2 (33.9)
S&P 500 Index
(daily average) 994 893 811 910 1,255 900 1,325
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
MFS had net income of C$43 million in the third quarter of 2009 compared to earnings of C$32 million in the second quarter of 2009 and earnings of C$49 million in the third quarter of 2008. The weakening of the Canadian dollar against the U.S. dollar increased earnings for MFS by C$2 million in the third quarter of 2009 compared to the third quarter of 2008.
In U.S. dollars, third quarter earnings were US$39 million compared to US$47 million in the third quarter of 2008. The decrease in earnings from the third quarter of 2008 was primarily due to lower average net assets.
Nine-month earnings in 2009 were US$89 million compared to US$161 million in the same period last year. The decrease was primarily due to lower average net assets.
Total assets under management at September 30, 2009 increased to a 12-month high of US$175 billion compared to US$134 billion at December 31, 2008. This increase was driven by asset appreciation of US$27.2 billion and net inflows of US$12.8 billion.
Fund performance at MFS remains strong with 91%, 95% and 92% of fund assets ranked in the top half of their Lipper Category Average over 3, 5 and 10 years, respectively, as of September 30, 2009.
SLF Asia
Quarterly Results Year to date
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q3'09 Q2'09 Q1'09 Q4'08 Q3'08 2009 2008
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Common shareholders'
net income (loss)
($ millions) 13 19 17 16 (8) 49 17
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Third quarter earnings for SLF Asia were $13 million compared to earnings of $19 million in the second quarter of 2009 and a net loss of $8 million in the third quarter of 2008. The increase in earnings from the third quarter of 2008 was primarily due to improved market conditions, as third quarter 2008 results were impacted by credit-related losses.
Earnings for the first nine months of 2009 were $49 million compared to $17 million for the same period last year. Earnings were higher primarily due to improved market conditions in 2009 and losses from wider credit spreads in 2008.
Sales in SLF Asia for the first nine months were flat to the first nine months of 2008 with continued growth in India offset by a slowdown in sales in other markets. Customers are still cautious about investment-linked products due to market volatility; nevertheless, the slower sales in these products were compensated by the growing demand for traditional insurance products.
Sun Life announced a repositioning of Sun Life Everbright Insurance Company Limited (SLEB) on July 29, 2009. The restructuring of SLEB into a domestic insurer will help drive expansion in China's financial services market and enable SLEB to fully leverage China Everbright Bank's broad distribution. Sun Life, which will have a 20% interest in the restructured and repositioned company, will continue to provide actuarial, risk management and governance expertise and standards to SLEB.
On July 28, 2009, the new joint venture between Sun Life Financial and Commerce International Merchant Bankers Group commenced its operations. The new joint venture enables Sun Life Financial's life, accident and health insurance products to be distributed through the 600-plus branches of PT Bank CIMB Niaga in Indonesia.
Corporate
Corporate includes the results of Sun Life Financial U.K. (SLF U.K.) and Corporate Support, which includes the Company's reinsurance businesses as well as investment income, expenses, capital and other items not allocated to Sun Life Financial's other business segments.
Quarterly Results Year to date
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q3'09 Q2'09 Q1'09 Q4'08 Q3'08 2009 2008
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Common shareholders'
net income (loss)
($ millions)
SLF U.K. 10 (50) - 40 69 (40) 169
Corporate Support (12) 16 (45) 777 (130) (41) (57)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total (2) (34) (45) 817 (61) (81) 112
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Corporate segment had a loss of $2 million in the third quarter of 2009 compared to a loss $34 million in second quarter of 2009 and a net loss of $61 million in the third quarter of 2008.
SLF U.K. had a net income of $10 million in the third quarter of 2009 compared to net income of $69 million in the third quarter of 2008. The decrease in SLF U.K. earnings was primarily as a result of the implementation of equity- and interest rate-related actuarial assumption updates and reserve increases for downgrades on the investment portfolio. Results in SLF U.K. for the third quarter of 2008 included the favourable impact of an internal reinsurance transaction. In Corporate Support, net losses in the third quarter of 2009 were $12 million compared to a net loss of $130 million one year earlier. The reduced losses were primarily as a result of improved performance in the Company's life retrocession reinsurance business relative to the third quarter of 2008 and investment-related gains.
Losses for the first nine months of 2009 in the Corporate segment were $81 million compared to earnings of $112 million for the same period last year. Earnings in SLF U.K. were lower as a result of reserve increases for downgrades on the investment portfolio and an internal reinsurance transaction, which had a favourable impact on SLF U.K. results in the first nine months of 2008. In Corporate Support, losses were lower from improved performance in the Company's life retrocession reinsurance business and investment-related gains, partially offset by the positive impact of income tax liabilities, which favourably impacted results in the first nine months of 2008.
On October 1, 2009, the Company completed the acquisition of the U.K. operations of Lincoln National Corporation. The combined operations will double SLF U.K.'s policies in-force and will carry the Sun Life Financial of Canada name, a brand that has been active in the U.K. for more than a century.
Additional Financial Disclosure
REVENUE
Under Canadian GAAP, revenues include (i) regular premiums received on life and health insurance policies and fixed annuity products, (ii) net investment income comprised of income earned on general fund assets and changes in the value of held-for-trading assets and derivative instruments, and (iii) fee income received for services provided. Segregated fund deposits, mutual fund deposits and managed fund deposits are not included in revenues.
Net investment income can experience volatility arising from quarterly fluctuation in the value of held-for-trading assets. The bonds and stocks which support actuarial liabilities are designated as held-for-trading and, consequently, changes in fair values of these assets are recorded in net investment income in the consolidated statement of operations. Changes in the fair values of these assets are largely offset by changes in the fair value of the actuarial liabilities, where there is an effective matching of assets and liabilities. The Company performs cash flow testing whereby asset and liability cash flows are projected under various scenarios. When assets backing liabilities are written down in value to reflect impairment or default, the actuarial assumptions about the cash flows required to support the liabilities will change, resulting in an increase in actuarial liabilities charged through the consolidated statement of operations. Additional detail on the Company's accounting policies can be found in Sun Life Financial Inc.'s annual MD&A, which is available on the Company's website at www.sunlife.com.
Quarterly Results Year to date
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
($ millions) Q3'09 Q2'09 Q1'09 Q4'08 Q3'08 2009 2008
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Revenues
SLF Canada 3,388 3,479 2,249 2,052 1,279 9,116 5,875
SLF U.S. 3,643 3,893 2,360 587 546 9,896 3,230
MFS 322 299 288 310 342 909 1,071
SLF Asia 588 634 238 128 180 1,460 370
Corporate
(net of
consolidation
adjustments) 890 415 (107) 1,629 213 1,198 311
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total as reported 8,831 8,720 5,028 4,706 2,560 22,579 10,857
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Impact of
currency and
changes in the
fair value of
held-for
trading assets
and derivative
instruments 3,117 2,859 (443) (1,424) (2,976) 5,533 (5,725)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total adjusted
revenue 5,714 5,861 5,471 6,130 5,536 17,046 16,582
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Revenues for the third quarter of 2009 were $8.8 billion, up $6.3 billion from the comparable period a year ago mainly due to improvements in the change in fair market values of held-for-trading assets and the impact of the weakening of the Canadian dollar against foreign currencies. Excluding the impact of currency and fair value changes in held-for-trading assets, third quarter 2009 revenue of $5.7 billion was $178 million higher than the same period a year ago mainly due to higher health and annuity premiums in SLF Canada.
Premium revenue was higher by $208 million in the third quarter of 2009 compared to the same period one year ago, with $99 million arising from the weakening of the Canadian dollar against the U.S. currency. The increase of $109 million, excluding the effect of currency, mostly arose from higher health and annuity premiums in SLF Canada.
Net investment income of $4.3 billion was $6.1 billion higher in the third quarter of 2009 compared to the same period a year ago. The changes in fair market value of held-for-trading assets and derivatives improved net investment income by $3.0 billion in the third quarter of 2009 compared to a decrease of $3.0 billion in the third quarter of 2008. There was also a $63 million increase as a result of the weakening of the Canadian dollar against foreign currencies.
Fee income of $669 million in the third quarter of 2009 was down by $24 million compared to the same period in the previous year as a decrease of $48 million from lower fees on reduced asset values in the wealth businesses, excluding the impact of currency, was partially offset by an increase of $24 million from the weakening of the Canadian dollar relative to the U.S. dollar.
Revenues of $22.6 billion for the nine months ended September 30, 2009 were up $11.7 billion from the comparable period a year earlier driven primarily by:
(i) an increase of $9.5 billion in net investment income, excluding
currency changes, primarily from changes in fair value of held-
for-trading assets;
(ii) an increase of $1.1 billion in premium revenue from higher annuity
premiums in SLF Canada and SLF U.S., excluding currency changes;
and
(iii) an increase of $1.5 billion from the weakening of the Canadian
dollar; partially offset by
(iv) a decrease of $0.4 billion in fee income, excluding currency
changes primarily from lower fees on reduced asset values.
INCOME TAXES
An increase in the market value of debt securities combined with tax planning strategies implemented during the third quarter of 2009 allowed the Company to record previously unrecognized tax benefits of $101 million relating to impairments on invested assets previously reported by SLF U.S. This, along with the impact of a lower level of earnings in the Company as a whole, including losses in higher taxed jurisdictions, most notably the United States, led to a tax recovery of $238 million on a pre-tax loss of $347 million during the third quarter of 2009.
Tax recoveries of $455 million for the first nine months of 2009 resulted from the third quarter items described above as well as the enactment of tax rules related to CICA Handbook Section 3855 during the first quarter of 2009. The enactment of these tax rules increased the tax benefit recorded in income taxes expense (benefit) in the interim consolidated statements of operations by approximately $174 million in the first quarter of 2009. This tax benefit was partially offset by an increase in actuarial liabilities of $135 million, resulting in a net increase in total net income of $39 million in the first quarter of 2009.
ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT (AUM)
AUM were $411.9 billion as at September 30, 2009 compared to $381.1 billion as at December 31, 2008, and $388.7 billion as at September 30, 2008. The increase of $30.8 billion between December 31, 2008 and September 30, 2009 resulted primarily from:
(i) positive market movements of $37.8 billion;
(ii) net sales of mutual, managed and segregated funds of $18.5
billion;
(iii) an increase of $5.0 billion from the change in value of held-for-
trading assets; partially offset by
(iv) a decrease of $33.0 billion from a strengthening Canadian dollar
compared to the prior period exchange rates.
AUM increased $23.2 billion between September 30, 2008 and September 30, 2009. The increase in AUM related primarily to:
(i) net sales of mutual, managed and segregated funds of $16.1
billion;
(ii) an increase of $2.8 billion from the change in value of held-for-
trading assets;
(iii) an increase of $2.4 billion from the weakening of the Canadian
dollar against foreign currencies; and
(iv) business growth, primarily in fixed annuities in SLF U.S.;
partially offset by
(v) negative market movements of $2.1 billion.
CHANGES IN THE BALANCE SHEET AND SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY
Total general fund assets were $119.5 billion as at September 30, 2009, compared to $113.2 billion a year earlier and $119.8 billion at December 31, 2008. The $6.3 billion increase in total general fund assets from September 30, 2008 resulted primarily from $4.0 billion of business growth, mainly from increases in the Company's wealth businesses, and an increase of $2.8 billion from the change in value of held-for-trading assets partially offset by a net decrease of $0.5 billion from the overall strengthening of the Canadian dollar against certain foreign currencies.
Total general fund assets decreased by $326 million from the December 31, 2008 level of $119.8 billion, primarily due to a reduction of $7.8 billion from the strengthening of the Canadian dollar against foreign currencies, mostly offset by an increase in assets from the change in value of held-for-trading assets of $5 billion and business growth during the period.
Actuarial and other policy liabilities of $84.1 billion as at September 30, 2009 increased by $2.7 billion compared to December, 31, 2008, primarily from an increase of $5.0 billion related to corresponding changes in fair value of held-for-trading assets and business growth of $3.0 billion, mostly from annuity sales in SLF U.S. and SLF Canada. This was partially offset by a reduction of $5.3 billion from the strengthening of the Canadian dollar against foreign currencies.
Actuarial and other policy liabilities were up by $6.5 billion from the September 30, 2008 amount of $77.6 billion. Business growth of $4.0 billion and an increase of $2.8 billion from the impact related to corresponding changes in fair value of held-for-trading assets were partially offset by a reduction of $0.4 billion resulting from the strengthening of the Canadian dollar against foreign currencies.
Shareholders' equity, including Sun Life Financial's preferred share capital, was $17.2 billion as at September 30, 2009 compared to $17.3 billion as at December 31, 2008 and $16.5 billion as at September 30, 2008. The decrease of $72 million between December 31, 2008 and September 30, 2009 resulted primarily from:
(i) shareholders' net income of $296 million, before preferred share
dividends of $58 million;
(ii) unrealized gains on available-for-sale assets in other
comprehensive income (OCI) of $1.4 billion;
and
(iii) net proceeds of $246 million from the issue of 6% preferred
shares; partially offset by
(iv) common share dividend payments of $594 million; and
(v) a decrease of $1.4 billion from the strengthening of the Canadian
dollar.
As at November 2, 2009, Sun Life Financial Inc. had 562.5 million common shares and 71.0 million preferred shares outstanding.
CASH FLOWS
Quarterly
Results Year to date
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
($ millions) Q3'09 Q3'08 2009 2008
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning
of period 9,165 3,114 7,263 3,603
Cash flows provided by (used in):
Operating activities 934 1,126 2,745 1,918
Financing activities (165) (188) 612 (10)
Investing activities (362) 949 (727) (534)
Changes due to fluctuations in
exchange rates (433) 117 (754) 141
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Increase (decrease) in cash and cash
equivalents (26) 2,004 1,876 1,515
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cash and cash equivalents, end of period 9,139 5,118 9,139 5,118
Short-term securities, end of period 2,692 1,496 2,692 1,496
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total cash, cash equivalents and
short-term securities 11,831 6,614 11,831 6,614
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Net cash, cash equivalents and short-term securities of $11.8 billion as at the end of the third quarter of 2009 were higher by $5.2 billion compared to the third quarter of 2008.
Cash generated by operations was $192 million lower in the third quarter of 2009 than 2008. The decrease was mainly due to slightly lower cash investment income. Cash used in financing activities in the third quarter of 2009 was $23 million lower than in the same period a year ago mostly due to a lower level of senior debt financing in 2009 than 2008. Cash used in investing activities was $362 million in the third quarter of 2009 compared to cash provided by investing activities of $949 million in the third quarter of 2008. The decrease of $1.3 billion in cash flow from investing activities in 2009 was mainly due to an increased level of net purchases of short-term securities. The fluctuation of the Canadian dollar compared to foreign currencies decreased cash balances by $433 million in the third quarter of 2009 compared to an increase of $117 million in the comparable period a year ago.
Cash provided by operating activities for the nine months ended September 30, 2009 was $827 million higher than the comparable period a year ago. The increase of $1.9 billion in premiums was only partly offset by higher policyholder payments and increased expenses. Financing activities in the first nine months of 2009 provided $622 million more in cash than the comparable period of 2008 from a combination of increased preferred share and debenture issuances and a reduced level of share repurchases, partly offset by an increased amount of cash dividends paid to common shareholders caused by a one-time change to the date of payment as a result of the implementation of the Company's enhanced dividend reinvestment plan in the second quarter of 2009. Cash used by investing activities was $193 million higher in the first nine months of 2009 than 2008, mostly from an increased level of investing. The fluctuation of the Canadian dollar compared to foreign currencies reduced cash balances by $754 million in the first nine months of 2009 compared to an increase of $141 million in the same period a year ago.
QUARTERLY FINANCIAL RESULTS
The following table provides a summary of Sun Life Financial's results for the eight most recently completed quarters. A more complete discussion of the Company's historical quarterly results can be found in the Company's interim and annual MD&As, which are available at www.sunlife.com.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q3'09 Q2'09 Q1'09 Q4'08 Q3'08 Q2'08 Q1'08 Q4'07
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Common share-
holders' net
income (loss)
($millions) (140) 591 (213) 129 (396) 519 533 555
Operating
earnings (loss)
($millions) (140) 591 (186) (696) (396) 519 533 560
Basic EPS ($) (0.25) 1.06 (0.38) 0.23 (0.71) 0.92 0.95 0.98
Diluted EPS ($) (0.25) 1.05 (0.38) 0.23 (0.71) 0.91 0.93 0.97
Diluted operating
EPS ($) (0.25) 1.05 (0.33) (1.25) (0.71) 0.91 0.93 0.98
Total revenue
($millions) 8,831 8,720 5,028 4,706 2,560 4,411 3,886 5,405
Total AUM
($billions) 412 397 375 381 389 413 415 425
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Second Quarter 2009
Sun Life Financial reported net income of $591 million in the second quarter of 2009. Results in the quarter were favourably impacted by reserve releases as a result of higher equity markets, increased interest rates and the positive impact of narrowing credit spreads. Strong results from improvements in capital markets in the quarter were partially offset by increased reserves for downgrades on the Company's investment portfolio, changes in asset default assumptions in anticipation of future credit-related losses, and credit impairments.
First Quarter 2009
A net operating loss of $186 million was reported for the first quarter of 2009. This operating loss did not include after-tax charges of $27 million for restructuring costs taken as part of the Company's actions to reduce expense levels and improve operational efficiency. Including these restructuring costs, the Company reported a net loss of $213 million. Results in the quarter were impacted by reserve strengthening, net of hedging, related to equity market declines, reserve increases for downgrades on the Company's investment portfolio, and credit and equity impairments.
Fourth Quarter 2008
Sun Life Financial had net income of $129 million in the fourth quarter of 2008. Excluding the after-tax gain of $825 million related to the sale of the Company's 37% interest in CI Financial, the Company reported a net operating loss of $696 million. Results for the quarter were most significantly impacted by the continued deterioration in global capital markets and included $682 million in charges related to equity markets, $365 million from asset impairments, credit-related write-downs and spread widening, as well as $164 million from changes to asset default assumptions in anticipation of higher future credit-related losses.
Third Quarter 2008
A net loss of $396 million was reported in the third quarter of 2008. The Company's results were significantly impacted by a deterioration in global capital markets and included asset impairments and credit-related losses of $636 million, and $326 million of charges related to equity market impacts.
Second Quarter 2008
The Company reported common shareholders' net income of $519 million in the second quarter of 2008. Net income in the quarter was affected by a decline in equity markets in the Company's U.S.-based businesses, the unfavourable impact of interest rate movements and associated hedges, wider credit spreads and credit-related allowances on actuarial reserving requirements, and credit-related losses on asset sales in SLF U.S., as well as the impact of higher interest rates and increased investment in growth in SLF Asia. These decreases were partially offset by favourable morbidity experience as well as the favourable impact of equity markets and higher interest rates in SLF Canada and changes in income tax liabilities in Corporate Support.
First Quarter 2008
Sun Life Financial reported common shareholders' net income of $533 million for the first quarter of 2008. Net income in the quarter was adversely affected by the decline in equity markets in the Company's North American businesses, the unfavourable impact of wider credit spreads in SLF U.S. and SLF Asia as well as credit-related allowances in SLF U.S. These decreases were partially offset by gains in SLF U.S., including positive interest rate and hedge experience in Annuities, reduced new business strain in Individual Insurance, and business growth in the Company's U.S. Employee Benefits Group and the positive effect of income tax-related items in Corporate Support and SLF U.K.
Fourth Quarter 2007
In the fourth quarter of 2007, the Company reported common shareholders' net income of $555 million primarily as a result of increased earnings in SLF U.S.'s Individual Life business on reduced new business strain and the recovery of previously recorded new business strain due to the implementation of a financing structure to support statutory reserves for certain universal life policies in the U.S. This was partially offset by lower earnings from run-off reinsurance in Corporate Support related to updates in interest rate and equity market assumptions.
INVESTMENTS
The Company had total invested assets of $107 billion as at September 30, 2009. The majority of the Company's general funds are invested in medium- to long-term fixed income instruments such as bonds and mortgages. The Company holds 86% of its invested assets in cash and fixed income investments. Stocks and real estate comprised 4% and 5% of the portfolio, respectively, as at September 30, 2009. The remaining 5% of the portfolio is comprised of policy loans, derivatives and other invested assets.
As at September 30, 2009, the Company held $60.1 billion of bonds, which constituted 56% of the Company's overall investment portfolio. Bonds with an investment grade of "A" or higher represented 66%, and bonds rated "BBB" or higher represented 95% of the total bond portfolio as at September 30, 2009, down from 97% at December 31, 2008. The decrease is mainly due to downgrades in the bond portfolio, primarily the financial sector, as a result of the weaker credit environment.
Included in $60.1 billion of bonds, the Company held $12.7 billion of privately held bonds, which constituted 21% of the Company's overall bond portfolio. Bonds that are not issued or guaranteed by sovereign, regional and municipal governments represented 74% of the total bond portfolio as at September 30, 2009, compared to 75% as at December 31, 2008.
The Company's gross unrealized losses as at September 30, 2009 for available-for-sale bonds and held-for-trading bonds were $0.5 billion and $2.7 billion, respectively, compared with $1.9 billion and $7.1 billion, respectively, at December 31, 2008. The change is primarily due to tightening of credit spreads partially offset by increases in interest rates. Gross unrealized losses reflect the difference between the fair value and amortized cost.
The Company's bond portfolio as at September 30, 2009 included $14.8 billion in the financial sector, representing approximately 25% of the Company's bond portfolio, or 14% of the Company's total invested assets. This compares to $15.5 billion as at December 31, 2008. The $0.7 billion decrease in the value of financial sector bond holdings is primarily the result of strengthening in the Canadian dollar, turnover in the portfolio and increase in interest rates offset by credit spread narrowing.
The Company's bond portfolio as at September 30, 2009 included $4.4 billion of asset-backed securities, representing approximately 7% of the Company's bond portfolio, or 4% of the Company's total invested assets. This compares to $5.1 billion as at December 31, 2008. Total investment-grade, asset-backed securities fell to 90.4% mainly as a result of downgrades in all asset-backed securities with the exception of agency residential mortgage-backed securities. Maturities, turnover, the strengthening Canadian dollar and increases in interest rates offset by tightening of credit spreads, were the main causes for the decline in market value.
September 30, December 31,
2009 2008
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Invest- Invest-
Fair ment Fair ment
($ millions) value grade % value grade %
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commercial mortgage-backed securities 1,869 95.5% 1,889 99.7%
Residential mortgage-backed securities
Agency 833 100.0% 1,138 100.0%
Non-agency 931 83.1% 1,092 98.4%
Collateralized debt obligations 162 42.2% 215 80.8%
Other* 587 85.3% 754 97.3%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 4,382 90.4% 5,088 98.3%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Other includes sub-prime, a portion of the Company's exposure to Alt-
A and other asset-backed securities.
The fair value of the Company's asset-backed securities reported as bonds is further broken down in the tables below to reflect ratings and vintages of the assets within this portfolio. The Company determines impairments on securitized assets by using discounted cash flow models that consider losses under current and expected economic conditions. Assumptions used include macroeconomic factors such as commercial and residential property values and unemployment rates. If the cash flow modelling results in an economic loss and the Company believes the loss is probable of occurring, an impairment is recorded. The asset-backed portfolio is highly sensitive to fluctuations in macroeconomic factors. Further write-downs on previously impaired securities may result from continued deterioration in economic factors such as property values and unemployment rates.
As at September 30, RMBS - RMBS -
2009 CMBS Agency Non-agency CDOs Other
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rating
AAA 72.7% 100.0% 32.3% 7.9% 54.1%
AA 7.3% 0.0% 32.8% 22.5% 6.7%
A 7.8% 0.0% 10.6% 0.4% 11.0%
BBB 7.7% 0.0% 7.3% 11.4% 13.6%
BB & Below 4.5% 0.0% 17.0% 57.8% 14.6%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vintage
2005 & Prior 81.8% 58.0% 89.4% 70.2% 55.6%
2006 13.8% 8.7% 8.9% 9.5% 17.2%
2007 4.2% 13.1% 1.5% 20.3% 1.7%
2008 0.1% 15.7% 0.0% 0.0% 25.4%
2009 0.1% 4.5% 0.2% 0.0% 0.1%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
CMBS (equals) Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities;
RMBS (equals) Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities,
CDOs (equals) Collateralized Debt Obligations
As at December 31, RMBS - RMBS -
2008 CMBS Agency Non-agency CDOs Other
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rating
AAA 74.5% 100.0% 33.2% 19.1% 51.3%
AA 7.7% 0.0% 48.0% 46.5% 13.9%
A 8.3% 0.0% 11.6% 10.5% 20.4%
BBB 9.2% 0.0% 5.6% 4.7% 11.7%
BB & Below 0.3% 0.0% 1.6% 19.2% 2.7%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vintage
2005 & Prior 85.6% 59.2% 90.2% 75.0% 59.3%
2006 10.8% 11.1% 8.2% 9.5% 18.5%
2007 3.5% 13.1% 1.6% 15.5% 2.5%
2008 0.1% 16.6% 0.0% 0.0% 19.7%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
CMBS (equals) Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities;
RMBS (equals) Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities,
CDOs (equals) Collateralized Debt Obligations
As at September 30, 2009, the Company had indirect exposure to residential sub-prime and Alternative-A (Alt-A) loans of $139 million and $117 million, respectively, together representing approximately 0.2% of the Company's total invested assets, compared with $202 million and $145 million, respectively, as at December 31, 2008. Alt-A loans generally are residential loans made to borrowers with credit profiles that are stronger than sub-prime but weaker than prime. 90% of these investments either were issued before 2006 or have an "AAA" rating.
The Company's mortgage portfolio consists almost entirely of first mortgages. While the Company generally requires a maximum loan to value ratio of 75%, it may invest in mortgages with a higher loan to value ratio in Canada if the mortgage is insured. As at September 30, 2009, the mix of the Company's mortgage portfolio was 80.7% non-residential and 19.3% residential and approximately 32.4% of mortgage loans will mature by December 31, 2013. As at September 30, 2009, the Company's mortgage portfolio mainly consisted of commercial mortgages with a carrying value of $13.9 billion spread across approximately 4,000 loans.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
($ millions) September 30, 2009 December 31, 2008
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Non- Non-
Residential Residential Total Residential Residential Total
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Canada 2,474 5,305 7,779 2,620 5,896 8,516
United
States 293 6,164 6,457 342 7,338 7,680
United
Kingdom - 67 67 - 71 71
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total
mortgages 2,767 11,536 14,303 2,962 13,305 16,267
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Corporate
loans - - 5,756 - - 6,035
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total mortgages
and corporate
loans 20,059 22,302
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
The distribution of mortgages and corporate loans by credit quality as at September 30, 2009 and December 31, 2008 is shown in the tables below. Impaired mortgages increased by $135 million to $226 million mainly due to deteriorating conditions in commercial real estate. Approximately 70% of the impaired loans are in the United States.
September 30, 2009
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
($ millions) Gross Carrying Value Allowance for losses
---------------------- ----------------------
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