December 6, 2024
Manulife Financial Q3 Earnings Beat on Solid Asia Business

Manulife Financial Corporation MFC delivered third-quarter 2024 core earnings of 73 cents per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4.3%. The bottom line improved 5.7% year over year.

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Core earnings of $1.3 billion (C$1.8 billion) remained unchanged year over year. The results reflected strong business growth led by Global WAM and Asia, and a lower net charge in the provision for Expected Credit Loss (ECL), more than offsetting the impacts of GMT and reinsurance transactions closed earlier this year

New business value (NBV) in the reported quarter was $618 million (C$843 million), up 38.2% year over year, attributable to higher sales volumes in Asia and U.S. divisions.

New business contractual service margin (CSM) of $556 million (C$759 million) rose 47% year over year.

Annualized premium equivalent (APE) sales increased 40% year over year, attributable to higher sales in Asia and the U.S. division.

Wealth and asset management assets under management and administration were $705.8 billion (C$963 billion), up 17.2% year over year.
The Wealth and Asset Management business generated net inflows of $3.8 billion (C$5.2 billion), up from net outflows of $0.8 billion in the year-ago quarter.

Core return on equity, measuring the company’s profitability, contracted 20 basis points year over year to 16.6%.

Life Insurance Capital Adequacy Test ratio was 137% as of Sept. 30, 2024, which remained unchanged from Dec. 31, 2023.

Adjusted book value per common share was $34.97, up 14% year over year.

Manulife Financial Corp Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Manulife Financial Corp Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Manulife Financial Corp price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Manulife Financial Corp Quote

Global Wealth and Asset Management’s core earnings came in at $365 million (C$499 million), up 35.6% year over year, driven by higher net fee income from favorable market impacts and positive net flows, favorable tax true-ups and benefits and continued expense discipline.

Asia division’s core earnings totaled $332 million (C$453 million), up 14% year over year, reflecting continued business growth momentum and benefits from updates to actuarial methods and assumptions in 2023 and 2024. Asia generated 64%, 45% and 55% year-over-year growth in APE sales, new business CSM and NBV, respectively, reflecting higher sales volumes in Hong Kong, mainland China, Singapore and Japan. 

Manulife Financial’s Canada division core earnings of $302 million (C$412 million) were down 0.6% year over year. APE sales and NBV were down 20% and 7%, respectively, while new business CSM increased 86% due to strong individual insurance and segregated fund sales. 

The U.S. division reported core earnings of $221 million (C$302 million), down 9.8% year over year. The decrease was primarily due to lower investment spreads, the impact from the previously completed reinsurance transaction and the annual review of actuarial methods and assumptions. It was partially offset by a lower charge in the ECL provision and more favorable claims experience in life.

APE sales, new business CSM and NBV were 23%, 30% and 36%, respectively, reflecting a rebound in demand from affluent customers for accumulation insurance products.

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