Manulife premiums, income up

Manulife Philippines has posted a five percent increase in premiums and deposits, and a 17 percent growth in total assets under management for 2005.

"We are proud of the fact that our clients have shown their confidence in Manulife’s ability to deliver our contractual promises," David N. Banks, senior vice president and chief financial officer of Manulife Philippines, said. Last year, Manulife Philippines launched two new products in response to emerging customer needs: ManuEdge and REACT-5.

Introduced in the first quarter, ManuEdge is a set of whole life products designed to cater to a wide array of investment and budgetary needs.

REACT-5, introduced in the third quarter, is an affordable life insurance plan packaged to provide sufficient and reliable protection.

"In addition to providing quality products, our focus for 2006 will be the continuous improvement of agency productivity through professional skills training," Banks added.

Meanwhile, mother unit Manulife Financial Corp. reported 2005 shareholder‚ net income of $3.2 billion, an increase of 29 percent over 2004. Earnings per share were $4.11, 13 percent higher than the $3.65 reported a year ago.

Premiums and deposits increased 22 percent over last year to a record $61.5 billion driven by strong organic growth and four additional months of contribution from John Hancock.

"We are very pleased to report record top and bottom line results for the company in 2005," Dominic D‚Alessandro, president and chief executive officer of Manulife Financial said. "This continues our exceptional track record of strong earnings growth with an average annual growth rate of more than 20 percent over the past decade. And with the successful integration of John Hancock now behind us, we look forward to building on the strengths of our combined operations." – TPT