This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on November 26, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR: Manulife Holdings Bhd registered a net loss of RM7.88 million for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2019 (3QFY19) — its first quarter in the red since the group was listed in 2002 — versus a net profit of RM3.93 million a year ago, dragged down by its life insurance business segment, as claims climbed.

Consequently, it booked a loss per share of 3.9 sen for 3QFY19 against an earnings per share of 1.95 sen for 3QFY18, its quarterly results announcement yesterday showed. Revenue fell 19.9% to RM256.83 million from RM320.64 million.

The group said its life insurance business segment recorded a pre-tax loss of RM13.84 million versus a profit before tax (PBT) of RM5.38 million last year, as the segment experienced worsened claims.  The weakness in its life insurance business could not be fully offset by its improved investment holding segment, which reported a higher PBT of RM3.84 million compared with RM134,000 last year, following higher net realised gains on disposal of debt securities and lower management expenses. Its asset management services segment’s PBT also improved to RM2.54 million from RM1.19 million, due to lower management expenses.

For the cumulative nine-month period, the group’s net profit fell 35.58% to RM12.47 million from RM19.36 million for the previous year’s corresponding period, despite revenue growing 13.22% to RM920.41 million from RM812.93 million. The weaker performance was again due to its life insurance business segment, which saw PBT declining RM20.21 million to RM5.36 million from RM25.57 million previously.