Manulife earning slip on market performance, hurricane costs

TORONTO – Manulife Financial Corp. says its earnings slipped in the third quarter as market losses and hurricane costs weighed.

The insurance company says it had a net income of $1.35 billion for the quarter ending Sept. 30, down from $1.59 billion for the same quarter last year.

Earnings worked out to 68 cents per diluted share, down from 80 cents per share last year.

Manulife says on the investments side it benefited from fixed income reinvestment activities, but took a hit on lower returns and writedowns on real estate-related holdings, while profits were also affected by declines in the stock market.

The company says on the insurance side, it took at $256 million charge related to Hurricane Ian, compared with $152 million for charges a year earlier related to Hurricane Ida and European floods.

It says new business value dropped in Asia as it saw lower sales in Hong Kong, while Canada and the U.S. saw gains driven by higher margins.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2022.

Companies in this story: (TSX:MFC)