Manulife Financial MFC-T posted a better-than-expected third-quarter profit on Wednesday, as the Canadian insurer benefited from a robust performance in its Asia and wealth management businesses.
Canada’s leading life insurers have increasingly focused on expansion in Asia, a key market for their growth and global exposure.
Core earnings from Manulife’s Asia business jumped 17 per cent to C$453-million ($324.96-million) in the quarter compared to last year.
The strong performance in the Asia unit was driven by higher insurance sales in Hong Kong, mainland China, Singapore and Japan, Manulife said.
Manulife’s annual premium equivalent (APE), an important sales metric used by life insurers, jumped 40% during the quarter, powered by a 64 per cent jump in its Asia unit.
The results mirror those of smaller rival Sun Life, which also beat expectations for quarterly profit, thanks to strong insurance sales.
Manulife’s wealth and asset management business was another bright spot, with core earnings from the unit jumping 37 per cent to a record C$499-million.
The unit generated higher fee income, thanks to higher equity markets and strong net flows.
Manulife’s wealth and asset management saw net inflows of C$5.2-billion, compared to net outflows of C$0.8-billion a year earlier, driven by strong retail net flows.
The demand for investment products rose amid an equity market recovery, resulting in strong retail net flows, Manulife said.
The company’s core earnings increased to C$1.83-billion, or C$1.00 per share, in the three months ended Sept. 30, from C$1.74-billion, or 92 Canadian cents per share, a year ago.
Analysts, on average, had expected Manulife to earn 94 Canadian cents per share, according to estimates compiled by LSEG.
