Canada-headquartered life insurer Manulife recorded a core earning of $309 million from Vietnam operation in 2022, up 6.55% year-on-year, according to the parent firm’s latest report.
Core earnings comprise post-tax profits that come from core business operations and disregard one-time revenues or costs not related to main business activities.
The Vietnam figure was in the top three of Manulife’s operation in Asia, only after Hong Kong with $876 million and Japan with $334 million. Overall, Manulife’s Asia core earnings fell 5.7% year-on-year to $1.64 billion last year.
The insurer added that last year, its annualized premium equivalents (APE) sales and new business value (NBV) in Vietnam decreased 10.13% and 1.67% year-on-year to $337 million and $177 million, respectively.
Despite challenges in the market, Manulife enlarged its agent pool in Vietnam to 63,464 last year, up 6% year-on-year. This was Manulife’s biggest force in Asia, followed by 12,041 in mainland China and 11,695 in Hong Kong, according to the report.
Manulife’s parent firm noted a highlight of 2022 was its payment of C$256 million ($187.3 million) to Vietnam’s VietinBank in January 2022 for an extension of the distribution agreement previously acquired from Aviva.
Also in January last year, Manulife commenced an exclusive partnership with VietinBank, as part of the former’s 16-year bancassurance partnership in the Southeast Asian nation.
Baoviet Life, Manulife, and Prudential were the top life insurers in Vietnam last year, according to the Insurance Association of Vietnam (IAV).
Insurance premiums in Vietnam increased 15.1% year-on-year to VND251.31 trillion ($10.6 billion) last year, the IAV reported. Revenue included VND68.2 trillion ($2.88 billion) from non-life insurers and VND183.11 trillion ($7.72 billion) from life insurers.