Manulife Financial Corp rebounded to profit in the fourth quarter on the back of investment and tax gains, and shares of Canada's No. 1 insurer rose on Thursday even though its core profit came in just shy of estimates.The result, which followed net losses in the year-before quarter as well as in the second and third quarters of the latest financial year, comes as Manulife has rebuilt its balance sheet to shed risk and shifted its focus to Asian growth.Wealth management sales from Manulife's Asian division more than doubled during the quarter to more than C$2 billion, although that didn't translate into profit growth as core earnings from the segment eased on the year to $180 million from C$213 million.Analysts are watching the company's core profits closely as Manulife has set a target of C$4 billion in core profit by 2016, well above the company's 2012 full-year core profit of C$2.19 billion.
Manulife Financial Corporation (MFC) is a financial services group. Shares of MFC traded higher by 0.9% or $0.13/share to $14.61. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $9.97 and as high as $14.86. On average, 1802930 shares of MFC exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 2214909.
Manulife Financial Corporation (MFC) is a financial services group. Shares of MFC traded higher by 0.97% or $0.14/share to $14.55. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $10.18 and as high as $14.97. On average, 3847640 shares of MFC.TO exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 6722566.
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