May 8 (Reuters) - Canada's Manulife Financial Corp ( MFC )

reported a jump in first-quarter profit on Wednesday,

driven by robust performance in its Asia unit.

The country's largest insurer posted core earnings of C$1.75

billion ($1.28 billion), or 94 Canadian cents per share, in the

three months ended March 31, compared with C$1.53 billion, or 79

Canadian cents per share, a year earlier.

($1 = 1.3719 Canadian dollars)