Manulife Financial (NYSE: MFC) reported Q2 EPS of $0.70, $0.20 better than the analyst estimate of $0.50.

• Net income attributed to shareholders of $1,262 million for the second quarter of 2018 ("2Q18")diluted earnings per common share of $0.61 and return on common shareholders' equity ("ROE") of 12.3%, compared with $1,255 million, $0.61 and 12.4%, respectively, for the second quarter of 2017 ("2Q17").
• The increase in net income attributed to shareholders primarily reflects growth in core earnings and improvement in the direct impact of markets, mostly offset by lower investment-related experience gains outside of core earnings and a restructuring charge.
• For 2Q18, Manulife generated core earnings of $1,431 million, diluted core earnings per common share of $0.70 and core return on common shareholders' equity ("core ROE") of 14.0%, compared with $1,174 million, $0.57 and 11.5%, respectively, for 2Q17.1

"We delivered strong earnings in the second quarter, with double-digit core earnings growth across all our operating segments and solid net income, as we continued to execute on our five priorities and the bold ambition we set out at our recent Investor Day," said President & Chief Executive Officer Roy Gori.

"During the quarter we made additional progress improving the capital efficiency of our legacy businesses and freed up $400 million in capital," added Mr. Gori. "We also expanded our distribution reach in Asia by signing a new exclusive bancassurance agreement in Cambodia, and in Canada we became the first life insurer to underwrite using artificial intelligence, which improves efficiency and shortens customer response times."

Phil Witherington, Chief Financial Officer, said, "We remain focused on managing costs across the organization and generated a three percentage point improvement in our efficiency ratio year-over-year. In 2Q18, we also made a number of strategic decisions which will enable $300 million of annual pre-tax run rate savings to be achieved by the end of 2019, and resulted in a pre-tax restructuring charge of $250 million in the quarter."

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Manulife Financial (MFC) click here.