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.Stay up-to-date with all quarterly releases: See Zacks Earnings Calendar.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 yearNew 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-eps-surprise-chart | Manulife Financial Corp QuoteSegmental PerformanceGlobal 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.Zacks RankManulife Financial currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.Performance of Other Life InsurersVoya Financial, Inc. VOYA reported third-quarter 2024 adjusted operating earnings of $2.12 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by about 4.8%. The bottom line increased 2.4% year over year. Adjusted operating revenues amounted to $1.97 billion, which increased 7.6% year over year. The increase was driven by higher fee income, premiums and other revenues.Net investment income decreased 7.5% year over year to $506 million. Meanwhile, fee income of $489 million increased 10.4% year over year. Premiums totaled $796 million, up 16.7% from the year-ago quarter. Total benefits and expenses were $1.8 billion, up 11.4% from the year-ago quarter. As of Sept. 30, 2024, VOYA’s assets under management, assets under administration and advisement totaled $391.6 million.Sun Life Financial Inc. SLF delivered a third-quarter 2024 underlying net income of $1.29 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3.2%. Moreover, the bottom line increased 8.4% year over year.  The underlying net income was reported at $744.73 million (C$1,016 million), which increased 7.4% year over year.Wealth sales & asset management gross flows increased 4.8% year over year to $30.72 billion (C$41.91 billion) in the quarter under review. The new business contractual service margin was $280.74 million (C$383 million), up 1.8% year over year.Reinsurance Group of America, Incorporated RGA reported third-quarter 2024 adjusted operating earnings of $6.13 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 19%. Moreover, the bottom line increased 10% from the year-ago quarter’s figure. Net foreign currency fluctuations had a favorable effect of 2 cents per share on adjusted operating income.RGA's operating revenues of $5.7 billion beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 13.8%. The top line also improved 8.5% year over year due to higher net premiums. Net premiums of $4.4 billion rose 3.2% year over year. Investment income increased 28.8% from the prior-year quarter to $1.2 billion. The average investment yield increased to 5.08% in the third quarter from 4.72% in the prior-year period due to higher new money rates. Total benefits and expenses at Reinsurance Group increased 14% year over year to $5.4 billion.Free Today: Profiting from The Future’s Brightest Energy SourceThe demand for electricity is growing exponentially. At the same time, we’re working to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels like oil and natural gas. Nuclear energy is an ideal replacement.Leaders from the US and 21 other countries recently committed to TRIPLING the world’s nuclear energy capacities. This aggressive transition could mean tremendous profits for nuclear-related stocks – and investors who get in on the action early enough.Our urgent report, Atomic Opportunity: Nuclear Energy's Comeback, explores the key players and technologies driving this opportunity, including 3 standout stocks poised to benefit the most.Download Atomic Opportunity: Nuclear Energy's Comeback free today.Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Manulife Financial Corp (MFC): Free Stock Analysis Report Reinsurance Group of America, Incorporated (RGA): Free Stock Analysis Report Sun Life Financial Inc. (SLF): Free Stock Analysis Report Voya Financial, Inc. (VOYA): Free Stock Analysis ReportTo read this article on Zacks.com click here.Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks