FINWIRES · TerminalLIVE
FINWIRES

Manulife Financial to Issue S$500 Million Notes Offering Due 2036

By

Manulife Financial (MFC.TO) on Tuesday priced an offering in Singapore of S$500 million of 2.880% subordinated notes due June 4, 2036.

The offering will qualify as Tier 2 capital for Manulife. The notes will bear interest at a fixed rate of 2.880% until June 4, 2031 and then at a rate of 0.931% over the five-year Singapore Overnight Rate Average Overnight Indexed Swap (SORA OIS) rate.

Manulife may, with OSFI approval, redeem the notes in whole, but not in part, on June 4, 2031, a statement said.

Manulife shares were last seen down $0.57 to $53.30 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Price: $53.43, Change: $-0.43, Percent Change: -0.80%

Related Articles

Treasury

Quebec's Economic Growth Gains Momentum in February, Says National Bank

After a "modest" growth of 0.1% month over month in January, which was revised upward from a flat reading, Quebec's economic expansion was more robust in February, with a 0.4% month-over-month increase, said National Bank of Canada.This marked the third consecutive month of growth for the province's gross domestic product and a larger gain than that observed across Canada as a whole, noted the bank.As a result, in February the Quebec economy was only 0.1% below its January 2025 peak before the trade conflict with the United States, stated National Bank. Despite this recovery, Quebec's GDP remains more heavily impacted than the country as a whole, particularly due to the size of its manufacturing sector, with Canadian GDP having grown by 0.8% over the same period.The strong performance of the Quebec economy in February was driven by a significant 0.9% month-over-month gain in the goods sector, as well as a 0.3% increase in services. It is also worth noting that the expansion of the Quebec economy over the past three months has been fueled by consecutive increases in both sectors.Nevertheless, the goods sector remained 2.8% below its January 2025 level in February, while the services sector was up 0.8%. Among the highlights of February was a significant 1.9% rebound in the public services subsector following a 1.6% drop in January.Also noteworthy is the 1.4% increase in the manufacturing sector in February, marking the third consecutive monthly gain and the largest monthly increase since June 2022. Although this development is welcome, manufacturing output remains 3.9% below January 2025 levels and 7.4% below its post-COVID peak in June 2022.While Quebec's economy appeared to be gaining momentum at the onset of the conflict in the Middle East, recent labor market data for March and April indicate a sharp slowdown in the province's job market, added the bank. In fact, nearly half of the job losses nationwide since the start of the year have occurred in Quebec, and the province's unemployment rate has jumped by 0.8 percentage point since the trade conflict began -- the sharpest deterioration among all Canadian provinces.In addition, uncertainty surrounding the renewal of the CUSMA trade deal and the loss of household purchasing power due to the war in Iran represent obstacles to growth in the coming months, according to National Bank.That said, the high household savings rate in Quebec, along with the resilience of the real estate market and the province's significant economic diversification, are factors that will help Quebec's economy weather these headwinds.

$$CXY
Treasury

SocGen's EU Governments Weekly Bond Positioning Report

The weekly analysis of flows into eurozone government bonds shows that, for the week ended last Friday, investors were net buyers of all sovereign bonds -- Germany's Bunds, France's OATs, Italy's BTPs and France's SPGBs, said Societe Generale.Bunds saw net buying over the week, continuing the trend of the previous 13 weeks and driven by non-domestic investors. Domestic investors were net sellers, extending the selling trend from the previous week, with activity concentrated in the 20y+ and 2-5y sectors, where insurers and asset managers were the most active participants. Non-domestic investors were also net buyers for the 14th consecutive week, primarily in the 5-10y and 2-5y sectors, led by asset managers and banks.OATs experienced net buying, reversing the selling trend observed in the previous week and were driven by both domestic and non-domestic investors. Domestic investors were net buyers for the 18th consecutive week, with activity concentrated in the 20y+ segment, led mainly by asset managers and insurers. Meanwhile, non-domestic investors were also net buyers, reversing the prior week's selling trend, driven by hedge funds, with activity focused mainly in the 5-10y maturity.BTPs saw net buying, continuing the buying trend from the previous week and driven by both domestic and non-domestic investors. Domestic investors were net buyers, extending the prior week's buying trend, with activity concentrated mainly in the 0-2y and 5-10y segments, led by banks. Non-domestic investors also remained net buyers, driven primarily by asset managers and banks, with activity focused on the 5-10y and 2-5y segments.SPGBs saw net buying, extending the buying trend of the previous six weeks, driven by both domestic and non-domestic investors. Domestic investors were net buyers for the second consecutive week, with activity concentrated in the 5-10y sector and driven primarily by banks and insurers. Non-domestic investors remained net buyers for the seventh consecutive week, with activity focused mainly in the 5-10y and 20y+ segments, driven largely by asset managers and insurers.

$$CXY
Treasury

Canada's Trade Diversification Target Has A Scale Problem, Says National Bank

Statistics Canada's 2025 goods-exporter data underscore the scale problem embedded in the country's ambition to double non-United States exports within the next decade, said National Bank of Canada.Canada counts nearly 48,000 goods-exporting enterprises, but 82% of them employ fewer than 50 workers despite accounting for only 14.3% of total goods exports, while firms with 500 or more employees represent a tiny fraction of exporters but close to 60% of export value, noted the bank.This is not a marginal complication, stated National Bank. Diversification isn't simply a matter of redirecting shipments away from the U.S. market, as it requires financing, compliance capacity, distribution networks, international-market intelligence, currency-risk management and the ability to withstand a long sales cycle before new relationships become profitable.For smaller firms, the constraint is structural because many are embedded in North American supply chains built around proximity, recurring customer relationships, integrated logistics and production specifications that are not easily replicated overseas.The irony is that Canada's target may be easier to meet in aggregate than in substance, pointed out the bank. Canada can raise non-U.S. export values through commodities and other scale-intensive sectors where global demand is deep, and output is more readily redirected across markets.However, that path does less for the employment-intensive parts of the export base, where supply chain links are stickier and diversification costs are proportionally higher. The result is a policy tension that could be masked by the headline gross domestic product.A resource-led export pivot may improve the arithmetic of diversification while smaller exporters face higher costs, thinner margins and greater risk of lost capacity. If building scale is part of the desired outcome, then trade policy cannot be separated from the domestic incentives that shape firm size, the bank added.

$$CXY