Manulife Financial Reports 1Q13 Net Income of $540 Million

Toronto—(PHStocks)—Manulife Financial Corporation (MFC) announced today net income attributed to shareholders of $540 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2013 compared with $1,225 million in the first quarter of 2012. Fully diluted earnings per common share (EPS) were $0.28 and return on common shareholders’ equity (ROE) was 9.1 percent for the quarter.

In the first quarter of 2013, MFC generated core earnings of $619 million compared with $526 million in the first quarter of 2012. Fully diluted core earnings per common share (Core EPS) 4 were $0.32 and core return on common shareholders’ equity (Core ROE) was 10.6 percent.

Donald Guloien, President and Chief Executive Officer, said “We are pleased with our solid start to 2013. Our first quarter results reflect our continued progress on our growth strategies, strong core earnings, strong net income, decreased equity risk, and a very solid capital ratio.”

“While insurance sales fell short of our expectations in the first quarter, due to our taking a leadership role in pricing to reflect lower interest rates, we also generated record wealth sales, with contributions from all of our major units around the world-producing all-time-record funds under management,” added Mr. Guloien.

“Our first quarter results reflect a progression in our core earnings performance,” said Steve Roder, Chief Financial Officer. “We substantially improved our core earnings relative to both last quarter and last year, and continued to generate solid investment gains reflecting our high quality portfolio and disciplined approach to extending credit and other investment activities,” added Mr. Roder.

“Our capital position was further strengthened by six points in the first quarter to 217 percent. In addition, the strong equity markets and hedging activities substantially reduced our equity exposure,” concluded Mr. Roder.

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