Manulife Financial Corp. on Wednesday edged past estimates for second-quarter profit, helped by growth in its domestic and U.S. business.
The company’s total annualized premium equivalent (APE) sales rose 9.2 per cent to $1.36-billion.
Canada APE sales jumped 46 per cent to $290-million, while in the United States it rose 19.4 per cent to $154-million.
In Asia, a region where Canadian insurers have looked to for growth, saw a marginal decline in APE sales.
Last week, rival Sun Life Financial Inc reported a 1.4 per cent rise in second-quarter profit, with a one per cent rise in Asia sales and a drop in United States and Canada units.
Manulife said core earnings rose to $1.45-billion (US$1.09-billion), or 72 cents per share, in the second quarter ended June 30, from $1.43-billion, or 70 cents per share, a year earlier.
Analysts on average had expected a profit of 71 cents per share, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
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