Manulife and Great-West Lifeco report rise in Q1 net earnings

Manulife and Great-West Lifeco reported increases in Q1 net earnings on Wednesday.

Manulife said its net income attributed to shareholders rose 1.63% to $1.372 billion, or 67 cents per share. In Q1 2017 the company reported net income of $1.350 billion, or 66 cents per share.

The increase in net income reflects growth in core earnings due to strong growth in its Asian and Global Wealth and Asset Management businesses, along with lower U.S. taxes, said the company in a release.

Its core earnings were $1.303 billion and 64 cents per share for Q1 2018. Last year it reported $1.101 billion and 53 cents per share for the first quarter.

Manulife also announced a quarterly shareholders’ dividend of 22 cents per share.

Read: Manulife reports $1.6 billion net loss in Q4

Rise in Great-West Lifeco’s net earnings

The net earnings for Great-West Lifeco rose in Q1 2018 by 24% to $731 million, or 74 cents per share, for Q1 2018. The company reported net earnings of $591 million, or 60 cents a share, in the same period last year. Excluding 2017 restructuring costs, Lifeco’s net earnings in the first quarter of 2017 were $619 million, a GWL release said.

Sales for Q1 2018 rose 7%, or $34.6 billion, from Q1 2017. Great-West reported an increase in sales in all of its geographic markets. Its fees and other income also rose $1.4 billion, or 6%, from the first quarter in 2017 because of improved market performance in the U.S. and business growth in all its geographic segments, a company release said.

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The staff of Advisor.ca have been covering news for financial advisors since 1998.