Ping An Insurance (Group) Co of China Ltd reported a significant surge in its net profit for 2024, driven primarily by robust growth in its life and health insurance segment. The Chinese insurance giant’s net profit rose by 47.8% to 126.607 billion yuan ($17.50 billion) compared to 85.665 billion yuan the previous year, according to an official filing released on Wednesday.
The Ping An International Financial Center in Beijing, China.
The company’s filing highlighted a 28.8% increase in the new business value (NBV) of its life and health insurance operations, reaching 28.53 billion yuan. This metric measures the profitability of newly sold policies. The growth was attributed to a resurgence in market demand and the company’s strategic reforms to improve the quality of its insurance agents.
Customer acquisition also saw positive developments. The group’s count of new customers increased by 9.8% year-on-year, reaching 32.07 million in 2024.
Ping An’s insurance funds investment portfolio achieved a comprehensive investment yield of 5.8% in 2024, marking a 2.2 percentage point increase compared to the previous year. This increase reflects the company’s strategic shift towards greater investment in stocks, a move prompted by declining bond yields amidst ongoing deflationary pressures in China.
Ma Mingzhe, the Chairman of Ping An, acknowledged both opportunities and challenges in China’s economic landscape in the company filing. “As China’s interest rate pivot moves downward, the asset side is facing new opportunities and challenges,” said Ma. Despite the positive financial results, Ma noted the continuing economic challenges: “China still faced challenges including lackluster domestic demand, volatile markets, and insufficient confidence in the short- and medium-term amid mounting uncertainties in the external environment.”
The central government in Beijing is pushing for medium- and long-term insurance funds to play a role in stabilizing the stock markets, particularly amidst the current geopolitical climate and rising tensions between China and the United States.
In related news, Ping An’s banking unit, Ping An Bank, reported a 4.2% year-on-year drop in its net profit last year.
($1 = 7.2352 Chinese yuan renminbi)
