Manulife’s Bloor Street office in Toronto is seen in this file photo.
Glenn Lowson/The Globe and Mail
Manulife Financial Corp reported an 18.3 per cent jump in first-quarter earnings on Wednesday as Canada’s largest insurer gained from robust demand in Asia.
Canadian insurance companies are expanding rapidly in Asia, selling products to a growing middle class. The strategy is helping the firms drive growth and diversify from domestic markets where competition is intense.
Manulife has benefited from a partnership with Singapore’s DBS Group, agreed in 2015, through which it sells its products through the lender’s Asian branch network.
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The company said its total core earnings rose to $1.3 billion, or 64 cents per share, in the quarter ended March 31, from $1.1 billion, or 53 cents, a year earlier.
Core earnings from the company’s Asia division rose 19.6 per cent to $427 million in the quarter.