Bloomberg News
BOSTON John Hancock Financial Services Inc., in its second year as a public company, said second-quarter profit rose 9%, to $199.4 million, as it sold more traditional life insurance policies.
The per-share figure, 64 cents, up from 58 cents a year earlier, beat the analyst consensus of 63 cents as reported by Thomson Financial/First Call. Hancock and other insurers are relying more on life insurance sales because the slump in equities has dampened demand for variable annuities.
Hancock is a selling machine, and sales of traditional life insurance are taking the pressure off the variable annuity segment, said Michael Paisan, an analyst at Williams Capital, which has a buy on the Boston company.
