Ping An Insurance reports better-than-expected result, even as coronavirus took a toll on new sales last year
- But the company’s revenue rose, as did its earning per share and dividend
- An increase in online sales helped it mitigate some of the challenges posed by the pandemic
Ping An Insurance (Group), China’s largest insurer by market capitalisation, reported a better-than-expected full-year result on Wednesday, even as the Covid-19 pandemic took a toll on its business.
Its net profit for 2020 fell by 4.2 per cent to 143.1 billion yuan (US$22.1 billion), better than the 131.5 billion yuan forecast by analysts polled by Bloomberg.
The value of its new business, an important indicator of performance, dropped 34.7 per cent to 49.6 billion yuan (US$7.6 billion). But its revenue rose 3.8 per cent to 1.3 trillion yuan (US$201 billion). Its earning per share also rose, climbing 5.5 per cent to 7.89 yuan, while its dividend rose 7.3 per cent to 2.2 yuan per share.
Its operating profit, a better reflection of the company’s performance as it removes one-off items, rose 4.9 per cent to 139.5 billion yuan last year, the company said.