Chinese insurer Ping An has reported a 10.0% increase in operating profit during the first quarter of 2022, following reforms to its Life & Health business, consistent results in Property & Casualty, and growth within its banking and asset management business.
The company noted that the Chinese markets proved particularly volatile over Q1 due to factors such as shrinking demand, supply chain disruption, and weakening expectations amid sporadic COVID-19 outbreaks.
Ping An’s net profit accordingly decreased by 24.1% to RMB 20,658 million, even as its operating profit increased to RMB 43,047 million.
The operating profit of Life & Health rose 16% year on year to RMB 29,678 million.
In Property & Casualty, meanwhile, premium income increased 10.3% year on year to RMB 73,018 in Q1, having normalised after the the cyclical impact of the auto insurance pricing reform ended.
The combined ratio rose 1.6 percentage points year on year to 96.8% due to rising claims of the guarantee insurance business amid the COVID-19 pandemic, although Ping An maintained that overall business quality remained good and risks were under control due to enhanced business management and risk screening.
For Ping An Bank, revenue grew 10.6% year on year to RMB 46,207 million and net profit grew 26.8% year on year to RMB 12,850 million in the first three months of 2022.
And the company also continued to improve the asset allocation of its insurance fund investment portfolio to withstand market volatility.
Ping An’s insurance fund investment portfolio grew 4.6% from the beginning of the year to nearly RMB 4.10 trillion by the end of Q1, achieving an annualized net investment yield of 3.3% and an annualized total investment yield of 2.3% as a result of the fluctuations in stock market.
Net profit of the asset management business grew 10.5% year on year to RMB 2,914 million and Ping An Securities and other asset management business achieved steady growth.
