TORONTO — Manulife Financial Corp. is reporting second-quarter net income attributable to shareholders of $727 million — just under half of the $1.475 billion it earned in the same period of 2019 — as it dealt with challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Its diluted earnings per common share came in at 35 cents in the three months ended June 30, down from 73 cents in the year-earlier period.
Analysts had expected net earnings of $197 million or eight cents per share, according to financial data firm Refinitiv.
Manulife says its core earnings were $1.561 billion, up five per cent from $1.452 billion in the second quarter of 2019.
It says the rise was due to favourable policy-holder experience, the impact of markets on seed money investments in segregated funds and mutual funds and the impact of in-force business growth in Asia, offset by lower new business volumes due to the pandemic.
The year-earlier core earnings included investment gains that weren’t replicated in the recent quarter.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 5, 2020.
Companies in this story: (TSX:MFC)
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