Manulife Beefs Up Retail Assets

Manulife Real Estate, the real estate arm of  Manulife Financial Corporation (MFC - Analyst Report) purchased Dojima East Building in Osaka, Japan from a local private equity fund. The purchase marks Manulife’s first real estate investment in Osaka.

DojimaEast Building, which has an area of 82,900 square feet, was constructed in 2007. 

Manulife believes this addition to its portfolio will help it to expand further in Osaka, the second largest market in Japan after Tokyo. In Japan, Manulife's commercial real estate portfolio totals more than 900,000 square feet, including six properties in Tokyo and the Manulife Japan Headquarters in Kokuryo.

As of March 31, 2011, Manulife's global real estate portfolio totaled 30 million square feet and carried a value of $6.4 billion.

Manulife Financial reported its first-quarter 2011 earnings of 54 cents per share, lower than 68 cents reported in the prior-year quarter. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for second-quarter 2011 is 37 cents per share. For full years 2011 and 2012, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are, respectively, $1.71 and $1.83 per share.

The quantitative Zacks #3 Rank (short-term Hold rating) for the company indicates no clear directional pressure on the shares over the near term.

Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, Manulife Financial operates as a life insurance company. The company also offers reinsurance services. It functions as Manulife Financial in Canada and Asia and primarily as John Hancock in the United States. The company competes with MetLife Inc. (MET - Analyst Report).

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