File photo of Manulife Financial president and chief executive officer Donald Guloien.
Manulife Financial Corp, met its target to achieve earnings of $4-billion in 2016, reporting results which beat market expectations, benefiting from a strong performance in Asia.
The company on Thursday reported earnings of $4.02-billion, or $1.96 cents per share, compared with $3.43-million, or $1.68 cents per share, a year earlier.
Analysts on average had expected earnings of $1.85 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Manulife reported an 11 per cent increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.205 per share.
The company achieved record high insurance sales in Asia, which increased by 27 per cent compared to 2015.
Like other insurance companies, it is expanding in Asia as the region's burgeoning middle class looks to save and invest. It has benefited from a partnership with Singapore's DBS Group, agreed in 2015, in which Manulife sells its products through the lender's Asian branch network.