Empire Life posted its third quarter earnings report Oct. 30. The company’s net income was flat in Q3 2019, relative to its results from a year ago. Year-to-date, the company reported a decline in earnings compared to 2018 numbers.

The insurer reported common shareholders’ net income of $35-million for the third quarter of 2019. Net income for the same period in 2018 was also $35-million. Earnings per share were down slightly to $35.29 compared to $35.73 in 2018. Year-to-date earnings were lower than they were at the same time last year, coming in at $98-million compared to the $131-million reported in 2018.

Empire says year-to-date earnings were lower primarily due to lower earnings in the individual insurance and employee benefits product lines, losses that were partially offset by higher income from wealth management, capital and surplus. Empire’s Life Insurance Capital Adequacy Test (LICAT) total ratio was 149 per cent as of Sept. 30. The company also declared cash dividends of $17.44, $0.31 and $0.36, payable Dec. 10, 2019 and Jan. 17, 2020 to shareholders of record as of Nov. 15, 2019 and Dec. 18, 2019.