Sun Life Has MFS to Thank

Sun Life Financial profits jumped last week and much of the good numbers were attributed to its U.S.-based mutual-fund unit MFS Investment Management, which it once had considered selling, according to The Toronto Star.   Sun Life decided not to sell MFS and has said it has made improvements to the unit. MFS boosted profits to $71 million, a significant 58% increase from $45 million a year ago, due to asset growth.   Sun Life raised its quarterly dividend by 2 cents to 32 cents per share last week as it posted a 14% revenue increase and a profit of $545 million in the fourth quarter. Earnings per share rose to 94 cents from 83 cents.   Revenue was $6.1 billion, up from $5.3 billion and significantly above the average projection of $5.5 billion among analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial, who were expecting earnings of 93 cents per share.   The staff of Money Management Executive ("MME") has prepared these capsule summaries based on reports published by the news sources to which they are attributed. Those news sources are not associated with MME, and have not prepared, sponsored, endorsed, or approved these summaries.