Great-West Lifeco Inc. (Lifeco) has reported its results for the fourth quarter and the full year ended 31 December 2014. View the full release here.


In its first full year as a subsidiary of Great-West Lifeco, Irish Life generated strong results, contributing Euro €184 million (CAD$261 million) to Lifeco’s earnings for the year ended December 2014.


Irish Life’s earnings for the three months ended 31 December 2014 were Euro €49 million (CAD$70 million), Irish Life’s second strongest quarter since it was acquired by Great-West Lifeco in July 2013. This represented a 94% increase, up from Euro €25 million (CAD$36 million) in Q4 2013.


The Irish Life integration programme continued throughout 2014, with annualised synergies of €40.8 million or 102% of the expected total achieved by year end. Lifeco now expects to exceed the original €40 million synergy target by at least 10%.


Bill Kyle, Chief Executive Officer, Irish Life Group commented: “I have been involved in many integrations and this one had some very challenging and unique aspects to it. I would like to congratulate all Irish Life staff for their contribution to a very successful integration that saw the company improve customer service levels, significantly exceed all integration targets and add to our market leadership in each of our business segments – retail, corporate and investments.”


“While focused on integration, our business continues to grow. Overall we now have more than one million customers, €56 billion of assets under management and 2,200 employees,” he said.


During the year 2014 Irish Life generated Euro €397 million (CAD$564 million) of Great-West Lifeco’s fee income.


A highlight of the fourth quarter was the continued success of Irish Life’s Multi-asset Portfolios (MAPs) funds, with over €3 billion now invested.


Mr Kyle noted, “Our €60 million integration programme is nearing completion, with 69% of the investment incurred as of 31 December. We expect the Canada Life business to be fully integrated with Irish Life, ahead of target, in April 2015.”