Manulife Earnings: Steady Quarter for The Firm as It Transitions to IFRS 17

No-moat-rated Manulife Financial reported a decent set of numbers to start the year and transitioned to IFRS 17 financial reporting standard. The company reported core earnings of CAD 1.53 billion or CAD 0.79 per share in the first quarter versus CAD 1.44 billion or CAD 0.69 per share in the first quarter of the previous year. The first-quarter results equated to an annualized core return on equity of 14.8%. The company paid a quarterly dividend of CAD 0.365 per share starting from the first quarter of 2023, which represents a 5.5% dividend yield as per the current stock price. The adjusted book value of the company stood at CAD 30.04 in the first quarter, up 9% compared with CAD 27.53 in the previous year. We are maintaining our CAD 29 fair value estimate for Manulife after incorporating the first-quarter results.