Manulife Hong Kong reports 20th consecutive year of core earnings growth

Core earnings in the first half of 2022 increased by 1%

Manulife Hong Kong reported a 1% growth in its core earnings from $430m to $440m in the first half of the year (H1).

Second quarter 2022 core earnings were $220m, up 1% from $210m in the prior year quarter. The increases reflected in-force business growth in the second quarter (Q2) and the first half of 2022, partially offset by lower new business volumes due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Annual premium equivalent (APE) sales in H1 2022 were down 27% compared to the same period last year. APE sales in Q2 2022 also dropped by 32%. Manulife Hong Kong said the decrease in sales in the second quarter and the first half of 2022 was driven by the continued effect of COVID-19 in Hong Kong and tighter containment measures in Macau.

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New business value (NBV) declined 24% to $220m from $290m in the prior year period. NBV in Q2 2022 went down 28% compared to the same period last year due to lower sales volumes. Meanwhile, NBV margin reached a record high of 80.5% in the second quarter of 2022 and 74.1% in the first half of 2022, an increase of 4.7 percentage points and 3.4 percentage points, respectively, compared with the corresponding periods in the prior year, reflecting favourable health and protection product mix.

“Manulife Hong Kong reported solid results with year-over-year core earnings growth in both the first half and second quarter of 2022, despite the challenges posed by the continued impact of the fifth COVID-19 wave in Hong Kong and the recent tightening of social distancing measures in Macau. Although APE sales were hit by the prolonged pandemic, we are glad to see our customers become more aware of health risks, translating to higher demand for health and protection products, which accounted for 29% of our new business in the second quarter compared to 24% in the prior year quarter,” said Pankaj Banerjee, Interim Chief Executive Officer of Manulife Hong Kong and Macau.