SUN LIFE FINANCIAL (Toronto symbol SLF; www.sunlife.ca) sells savings, retirement, pension and life insurance products to individuals and corporations.
The company mainly operates in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K., but it has expanded into Asia, China and India. Sun Life has $590 billion of assets under management.
In the three months ended June 30, 2013, Sun Life’s earnings per share jumped 69.0%, to $0.71 from $0.42. Revenue rose 18.5%, to $3.7 billion from $3.1 billion.
The improved results mostly came from higher sales of individual and group insurance in Canada and the U.S., as well as individual insurance in Asia. In addition, the value of the assets Sun Life manages rose, which pushed up its fee income.
The company recently completed the sale of its riskier and money-losing U.S. annuity business. Sun Life also plans to continue its expansion into more profitable Asian markets.
The shares have moved up 41% in the last year. The stock yields a high 4.1%.
Investing in stocks: Drop in Asian sales offsets stronger mutual fund demand for Manulife
MANULIFE FINANCIAL (Toronto symbol MFC; www.manulife.ca) sells life and other forms of insurance, as well as mutual funds and investment-management services. It operates globally and has $567 billion of assets under management.
Excluding one-time items, Manulife’s earnings per share rose 3.3% in the three months ended June 30, 2013, to $0.31 from $0.30. That fell short of the consensus estimate of $0.34. Revenue rose slightly, to $6.50 billion from $6.42 billion.
Insurance sales were down 3%, mostly due to lower sales in Asia, where sales were unusually high a year earlier ahead of tax changes. That offset stronger demand for mutual funds and investment products.
Manulife is cutting its U.S. insurance business’s exposure to unpredictable equity markets and interest rates. In addition, the company now gets about one-third of its insurance premiums from its operations in Japan, China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and the Philippines.
The company’s shares have moved up 56% over the past year. The stock has a current yield of 2.8%.
In the latest issue of Canadian Wealth Advisor, we examine the efforts of both companies to increase market share in Asia while they seek to improve their U.S. operations. We also look at the earnings outlook for both companies and whether their shares will keep rising. We conclude with our clear buy-hold-sell advice for both of these stocks.
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