Performance | Manulife's first quarter core profit increases by 3.9%

Manulife Financial (00945) announced that for the first quarter ending March 31, net income attributable to shareholders was 1.15B CAD, up 1.36 times year-on-year, mainly driven by a decrease in net losses related to market experience and growth in core earnings. Quarterly dividends of HKD 0.485 per share were declared.

During the period, core earnings were 1.84B CAD, up 3.9% year-on-year; core earnings per share were CAD 1.06; core return on equity was 16.5%.

The increase in core earnings mainly reflects strong growth in Asia and global wealth and asset management businesses, the net impact of updated actuarial methods and assumptions for 2025, and overall improvement in insurance experience; however, some of the growth was offset by narrowing investment spreads in the U.S. and the transition of Hong Kong to the “MPF Easy” platform.

During the period, APE sales reached 2.82B CAD, up 4.9% year-on-year; new business CSM was 1.02B CAD, up 12.3%; new business value was 944 million CAD, up 4.1%.

Manulife President and CEO Waring Ton stated that despite uncertainties in the macroeconomic environment, all three insurance business segments’ new business CSM recorded double-digit growth. Asia once again delivered excellent results, with core earnings increasing by 22% and new business value rising by 15%, reflecting strong contributions from key markets in the region.

Waring Ton pointed out that in the global wealth and asset management business, despite the transition of Hong Kong to the “MPF Easy” platform, core EBITDA profit margins still increased year-on-year; Comvest also contributed positively to profit margins, core earnings, and net inflows.

Manulife Chief Financial Officer Colin Simpson said that despite market volatility this quarter, the company’s financial position and performance remained resilient. Excess capital remained strong, financial leverage ratios further improved, and the book value per common share rose to a record high. In terms of capital deployment, the company continued to maintain a prudent and orderly approach, returning HKD 1.2 billion to shareholders through dividends and buybacks, and completed the acquisition of Schroders Indonesia.