Manulife reports earnings up

Manulife Financial Corp. reported a profit increase last quarter that was driven by growth in Asia, while the company says it's also seeing a boost from its push into artificial intelligence.

The insurance giant reported a third-quarter profit of $1.83 billion, up four per cent from last year.

Chief executive Roy Gori says the company's significant growth was led by broad-based gains in Asia.

The company's operations in Asia saw net income rise almost tenfold to $606 million from $63 million last year while core, or adjusted, earnings from the region were up 17 per cent.

Sales are also up as the company pushes further into AI, with 11 use cases already launched and two dozen expected in use by the end of the year.

Gori says the AI uses span all business areas and are being scaled ambitiously.