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Power Financial Q3 profit edges lower

12/11/09

TORONTO (Reuters) - Power Financial Corp said on Thursday its profit edged lower in the third quarter, reflecting lower earnings at the insurance and mutual fund companies it controls.

Power Financial, a unit of Montreal's family-controlled Power Corp of Canada , said it had net earnings of C$452 million ($430 million), or 61 Canadian cents a share, for the three months ended September 30. This is down from a profit of C$457 million, or 62 Canadian cents a share, a year earlier.

Analysts had expected earnings of 63 Canadian cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The results included a charge of C$3 million related to its share of non-operating results recorded by Swiss-based Pargesa Holding SA . Power Financial has a 50 percent stake in Parjointco NV, which in turn has a 54.1 percent interest in Pargesa. That compared with a charge of C$2 million in the third quarter of 2008.

Power Financial controls insurance company Great West Lifeco and mutual fund company IGM Financial .

Shares of Power Financial were down 0.1 percent at C$28.19 at midday on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

($1=$1.05 Canadian)

(Reporting by Andrea Hopkins; editing by Rob Wilson)

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