05:26 PM EDT, 08/07/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Manulife Financial ( MFC ) edged up in after hours New York trading after the company on Wednesday reported its core earnings increased in its second quarter on the back of strong business growth.

Core earnings of $1.7 billion, or $0.91 per share, were up 6% from $1.64 billion, or $0.83 last year. Manulife said Asia core earnings were up 40%, benefitting from business growth momentum and updates to actuarial methods and assumptions in the second half of 2023.

The company also reported that excluding the impact of Global Minimum Taxes (GMT), core EPS was $0.94, up 12% from the prior year period, while core return on equity was 15.7%.

"At our Investor Day in June, we communicated our goals of raising the bar on our financial targets. We are pleased to demonstrate continued positive momentum in the second quarter, with core EPS and new business value growth of 9% and 23%, respectively." said Roy Gori, Manulife President & CEO.

A quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share was declared, payable on September 19.

Manulife was last seen up US$0.07 to US$24.20 in after hours trade in New York. It closed $0.80 lower to $33.19 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.