• Manulife Holdings Berhad’s (MHB’s) operating revenue grew by 6.9% in 2019 to RM1,304.1 million, generating a pre-tax profit of RM38.4 million for MHB.
• MHB’s gross premiums totalled RM988 million, attributable mostly to strong growth in onshore and offshore life insurance business.
• MHB’s net profit remained stable at RM26.1 million, down slightly from RM26.3 million in 2018 mainly due to higher insurance claims.
• Manulife Insurance Berhad’s (MIB’s) Annualised Premium Equivalent (APE) grew by 43% year-on-year, driven by surge in new business sales worth RM182.5 million from its agency and bancassurance channels.
• Total MIB market share rose to 2.86% from 2.24% in 2018.

KUALA LUMPUR, June 30 (Bernama) -- Manulife Holdings Berhad (MHB), in its 44th Annual General Meeting held on 26 June 2020, reported sustained healthy business growth for the full-year 2019, despite challenging macro environment and market conditions last year. During the period under review, the Group’s operating revenue in Malaysia recorded a year-on-year growth of 6.9% in 2019 to RM1,304.1 million, generating a pre-tax profit of RM38.4 million for MHB, up 0.2% from 2018.

The key contributor to the Group’s operating revenue was its life insurance businesses, which delivered an 8.2% growth in gross premiums on the year. Gross premiums totalled RM988 million, mainly attributed to strong growth in MHB’s onshore and offshore life insurance business. While pre-tax profits in the investment holdings and asset management services grew significantly, up 720% to RM12.3 million and 88.4% to RM8.1 million, respectively, the life insurance business, however, fell 44.4% to RM18.0 million, due to higher medical claims. The company has taken the step to reprice its medical portfolio.

Lee Sang Hui, Manulife’s Group Chief Executive Officer said, “Despite the challenges we faced in 2019, we were able to record higher revenues, given our diversification across various business lines. We will continue to deliver on our commitments to our customers and progress on our mission to help make their decisions easier and lives better.”

MHB’s insurance subsidiary, Manulife Insurance Berhad (MIB), recorded 43% growth year-on-year driven by surge in new business sales worth RM182.5 million from its agency and bancassurance channels. Total MIB market share rose to 2.86% from 2.24% a year earlier, reaffirming its position among the country’s life insurance companies.

In 2019, the Group’s newest subsidiary, Manulife Insurance Labuan Limited (MILL), exclusively partnered with Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia and established relationships with several brokers to distribute its US Dollar-denominated life insurance plan to high net worth customers. MILL generated RM10.4 million of new business.

The Group’s investment subsidiary, Manulife Investment Management (M) Berhad (MIMMB) (previously known as Manulife Asset Management Services Berhad), was rebranded to put greater emphasis on its global wealth and investment management expertise, bespoke solutions, as well as public and private market asset management capabilities. MIMMB saw growth in terms of sales and profitability in 2019, helped by the launch of four regional and global income solutions during the year.

“We will continue to look at strengthening and growing our business as Malaysia moves towards the recovery phase after nearly three months of the Movement Control Order,” said Lee. “In view of the post-pandemic impact, we expect the insurance business to rebound as demand for protection coverage increases. Although market weakness and volatility will likely prevail throughout the year, we hope that investor sentiment will improve once uncertainty subsides and markets stabilise.”

About Manulife Malaysia
Manulife Holdings Berhad is part of Canada-based Manulife Financial Corporation. Through its subsidiary companies, Manulife Malaysia offers an innovative range of financial protection, health and wealth management products and services to meet different customer needs. Manulife Malaysia currently serves the needs of over 270,000 policyholders and wealth management customers. Manulife Holdings Berhad has been listed on the Main Board of Bursa Malaysia since 1984. As at 31 March 2020, its assets under management were over RM10 billion. To learn more about Manulife Malaysia, visit: www.manulife.com.my.

About Manulife
Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial services group that helps people make their decisions easier and lives better. With our global headquarters in Toronto, Canada, we operate as Manulife across our offices in Canada, Asia, and Europe, and primarily as John Hancock in the United States. We provide financial advice, insurance, and wealth and asset management solutions for individuals, groups and institutions. At the end of 2019, we had more than 35,000 employees, over 98,000 agents, and thousands of distribution partners, serving almost 30 million customers. As of March 31, 2020, we had $1.2 trillion (US$0.8 trillion) in assets under management and administration, and in the previous 12 months we made $30.4 billion in payments to our customers. Our principal operations are in Asia, Canada and the United States where we have served customers for more than 155 years. We trade as 'MFC' on the Toronto, New York, and the Philippine stock exchanges and under '945' in Hong Kong.

SOURCE: Manulife Insurance Berhad

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: 
Name: Asha Devi
Manager, Brand & Communications
Manulife Insurance Berhad
Tel: (603) - 2719 9228 Ext. 609732
Email: asha_devi@manulife.com

--BERNAMA