Sale, purchase enhance Royal’s outlook

Article Excerpt

ROYAL BANK OF CANADA $66 (Toronto symbol RY; Conservative Growth and Income Portfolios, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 1.5 billion; Market cap: $99.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.9; Dividend yield: 4.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.rbc.com) is selling its RBC General Insurance subsidiary to Aviva Canada. This business mainly sells home and auto insurance. As part of the sale, Royal’s customers can also access all of Aviva’s insurance products for the next 15 years. The sale makes sense, as regulators prevent Canadian banks from selling insurance policies through their branches. That limits Royal’s ability to expand this business. However, the bank will continue to sell life and health insurance through separate offices and online. Royal will realize $200-million after-tax gain when it completes the sale later this year. The bank also recently completed its purchase of Los Angeles-based City National for $5.4 billion U.S. (50% in cash and 50% in shares). This firm lends to both wealthy individuals and businesses in the…