Manulife Financial slid to a loss in the third quarter as lower corporate bond rates pulled down profits and it logged charges related to its actuarial assumptions.

The Toronto-based insurance giant said booked a loss of $172 million, or 12 cents per share, down from year-earlier profits of $510 million or 33 cents per share.

The results were affected by a $1.2-billion pretax charge, worth $783 million after taxes, on changes in actuarial assumptions used to value its policy liabilities.

Adjusted earnings from operations were $803 million in the quarter, which was in line with a forward-looking estimate the company issued in August.

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
    (unaudited)
 
                                                         Quarterly Results
                                                      3Q09     2Q09     3Q08
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Net Income (Loss) Attributed to Shareholders
     (C$ millions)                                    (172)   1,774      510
    Net Income (Loss) Available to Common
     Shareholders (C$ millions)                       (193)   1,758      503
    Diluted Earnings (Loss) per Common Share (C$)    (0.12)    1.09     0.33
    Return on Common Shareholders' Equity(1)
     (%, annualized)                                  (3.0)    26.9      8.2
    Premiums & Deposits(1) (C$ millions)            16,238   19,196   18,090
    Funds under Management(1) (C$ billions)          436.5    420.9    385.3
    Capital(1)  (C$ billions)                         30.7     31.1     28.3
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    (1) This item is a non-GAAP financial measure. For a discussion of our
        use of non-GAAP financial measures, see "Performance and Non-GAAP
        Measures" below.