Feb 7 (Reuters) - Great-West Lifeco Inc GWO.TO :
* GREAT-WEST LIFECO REPORTS FOURTH QUARTER 2018 NET EARNINGS OF $710 MILLION; ANNOUNCES 6% DIVIDEND INCREASE
* Q4 EARNINGS PER SHARE C$0.72
* Q4 EARNINGS PER SHARE ESTIMATE C$0.74 -- REFINITIV IBES DATA
* SETS QUARTERLY DIVIDEND OF C$0.413PER SHARE
* SALES FOR Q4 OF 2018 WERE $41.5 BILLION, UP 37% FROM Q4 OF 2017
* "WE ARE CONSIDERING OTHER CAPITAL MANAGEMENT ACTIVITIES TO MITIGATE EARNINGS IMPACT FROM SALE OF OUR U.S. BUSINESS"
* DECLARED A 6% INCREASE IN DIVIDEND FROM PREVIOUS QUARTER
* QTRLY TOTAL NET PREMIUMS C$9,045 MILLION VERSUS C$8,494 MILLION
* AS OF DEC 31, 2018 TOTAL PREMIUMS AND DEPOSITS OF C$37,583 MILLION VERSUS C$32,645 MILLION FOR SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR