Ping An Insurance (Group) of Company of China, Ltd. has reported 36.5% growth in net profits in 2019, helped by its technology and data focused transformation strategy.
Net profit totalled RMB 164,365 million (US $23.4 billion) for the year, while operating profit similarly rose 18.1% to RMB 132,955 million ($18.9 billion).
The company said technological and ecosystem empowerment had boosted growth in its number of customers, contracts per customer, and profit per customer of integrated financial services.
In its Property & Casualty segment, Ping An recorded a premium income of RMB 270.93 billion ($38.5 billion), up 9.5%, while operating profit rose 70.7% to RMB 20,952 million ($3.0 billion). The combined ratio for this segment was 96.4%.
Life & Health, meanwhile, saw a 24.7% increase in operating profit to RMB 88,950 million ($12.6 billion), while retail business increased 25.7% to RMB 122,802 million ($17.5 billion).
Retail also benefitted from an 11.2% growth in retail customers, a 3.9% increase in contracts per customer, and a 13.0% increase in operating profit per customer over the year.
In 2019, Ping An acquired 36.57 million new customers, of which 40.7% were sourced from internet users within the Group’s five ecosystems. The Group’s internet uses increased by 16.2% from the beginning of 2019 to 516 million.
Looking ahead to the coming year, Ma Mingzhe, Chairman and CEO of Ping An, commented: “The year 2020 will witness the completion of China’s 13th Five-Year Plan, a critical year for building China into a moderately prosperous society and alleviating poverty across China.”
“In the coming year, we will remain committed to developing cutting-edge technologies and planning for the future. We will promote technological innovations and smart data-driven operations,” Mingzhe continued.
“To help the country win the fight against poverty, we will spare no effort to carry out targeted poverty alleviation measures, especially in poverty-stricken areas in Tibet, Xinjiang, Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu, and Qinghai.”
“We will remain true to our original aspirations of serving customers, rewarding shareholders, supporting society, and contributing to the country. We will leverage our strengths to overcome the various challenges brought by the COVID-19 outbreak, serve the real economy, fulfill our corporate social responsibilities, and contribute to the Chinese nation’s great rejuvenation.”
