Manulife profit slides 51% as low oil hits North America units

(Bloomberg) – Manulife Financial Corp., Canada’s largest insurer, said fourth-quarter profit slid 51 percent as oil and gas investments languished amid a global decline.

Net income fell to C$640 million ($510 million), or 33 cents a share, from C$1.3 billion, or 68 cents, a year earlier, the company said today in a statement. Profit excluding some items was 36 cents a share, missing the 41-cent average estimate of 15 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

“Core earnings, due to a variety of experience factors, were below our plan,” Chief Executive Officer Donald Guloien, 57, said in the statement. “Also, the macro environment, including low interest rates, produces headwinds for 2015.”