Manulife fends off competitors to post earnings rise
Manulife (International), one of the largest life insurers in Hong Kong, has reported 15 per cent premium growth in the first six months of this year as a result of expanding its sales team.
The life insurer is the Hong Kong, China and Macau division of the Canadian-based financial group Manulife Financial.
It announced first-half earnings rose 4.3 per cent to $304 million compared with $292 million last year.
Dividends paid to policyholders grew by 18 per cent to $219 million, while benefits rose to $1.06 billion, up 24 per cent.
Assets rose to $21 billion, a 16 per cent increase on the year-ago period.
'Our performance for the year to date has been very steady,' Manulife (International) president and chief executive Victor Apps said.
'We have been able to grow revenues in Hong Kong and Shanghai by expanding our agency force in the face of fierce competition from newcomers to the market.' The firm recently received reaffirmation of its AA-plus credit rating from Standard & Poor's.
Its 51 per cent-owned Shanghai joint venture Zhong Hong Life is the first mainland insurance joint venture, with more than 900 agents.
