Executives at the
"The economic impact of COVID-19 increased credit charges and we had a higher effective tax rate on underlying earnings," said
His remarks came after Sun Life revealed Thursday that its net income fell to
Sun Life's net income was below the
The company's underlying net income for the quarter was
By that measure, Sun Life beat analyst expectations, which were
"Underlying net income remained level with the prior year...in part reflecting good underlying business growth," Connor said.
However, insurance sales in the quarter were down
"But it's better than the minus 20 per cent we mentioned on the first quarter call that we saw in April," said Connor.
COVID-19 also triggered increased death claims, but boosted wealth and asset management sales significantly since the prior year, Connor said.
He was pleased with the popularity of Sun Life's virtual offerings and said its digital health and wealth program Ella was used more than 13.5 million times during the pandemic.
"COVID-19 has created much economic uncertainty, but we remain confident in our business mix, our financial strengths and our ability to execute well during these complex times," Connor said.
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