Key Takeaways From Manulife’s Earnings

Manulife (NYSE:MFC) reported its earnings for the second quarter on Thursday, August 4th. For the quarter ended June 30th, the company reported a decline in core earnings to $647 million for the quarter. The decline was primarily due to low interest rates, heightened market volatility and the absence of core investment gains. The company’s net income increased 17% over the prior year quarter to $667 million or 34 cents a share, driven by growth in the Asia and Canada markets.

Asia, Canada Operations Drive Growth

The Asia and Canada operations continue to drive the growth for Manulife. For the quarter, the company reported core earnings of $266 million for its Asia operations and $259 million for its Canada operations. The growth in Asia was driven by strong Annualized Premium Equivalent (APE) sales and New Business Value sales, which grew 34% and 47% respectively. With the exception of  Japan, where the company faced headwinds due to pricing competition and declining interest rates, growth was seen in all the other Asian markets. The company’s bancassurance partnership with DBS yielded positive results in Singapore, the Philippines and Vietnam, where the company reported a 92% y-o-y increase in annualized premium sales at $259 million.

Manulife continued its strong performance in the Canadian market, with an increase in sales in the mutual fund industry and retail insurance partially offset by a decline in overall insurance sales. Core earnings for the Canadian market increased 5% year over year to $259 million. This was primarily due to an increase in wealth and asset management fee income.

View Interactive Institutional Research (Powered by Trefis):

Global Large Cap | U.S. Mid & Small Cap | European Large & Mid Cap

More Trefis Research