Ping An Insurance (Group) will focus on medical services and healthcare coverage over the next 10 years to capture the opportunities in China’s ageing population, co-CEO Jessica Tan says

China’s largest insurer by market cap reported a 1.2 per cent decline in first-half profit, as strong sales of new insurance policies were offset by a sharp fall in earnings in its asset management and technology businesses.

HSBC’s pre-tax profit was US$8.77 billion, ahead of US$7.96 billion expected by analysts, as it benefited from a strong interest rate environment.

Ping An OneConnect Bank, the Hong Kong virtual lender indirectly owned by Ping An Insurance, plans to increase lending to SMEs in the retail sector to capture growth opportunities in the post-Covid-19 era, its CEO said.

HSBC’s Asia operations are ‘motoring’ as the lender looks to future growth from its biggest revenue driver, but will the bank’s improved performance and promises of bigger dividend payout be enough to satisfy unhappy investors?

A group of minority shareholders had called for the bank to consider radical change, including spinning off its Asia business. HSBC’s biggest shareholder Ping An Insurance Group has also been pushing the lender to make changes to enhance shareholder value.

HSBC’s pre-tax profit rose to US$12.9 billion, beating analysts’ expectations. The bank said it would pay its first quarterly dividend since 2019 of 10 US cents a share.

Ping An Insurance Group, China’s biggest insurer, said its recommendation to list HSBC’s Asian operations in Hong Kong would not result in value destruction or higher costs for the bank.

Structural reforms proposed by Ping An Insurance Group, including a spin-off of HSBC’s Asian business, would “significantly dilute” HSBC’s international business model, the London-based lender said.

Ping An In, HSBC’s biggest shareholder, said the bank should remain a majority shareholder of a separately listed Asia business as part of a restructuring, similar to its majority stake in Hang Seng Bank.

HSBC’s sale of its French retail banking business is ‘less certain’ as a sharp rise in interest rates has increased capital requirements for its Cerberus-backed buyer, the bank said.

HSBC’s board of directors has recommended that investors reject shareholder proposals that are calling for it to increase dividend payments and consider a radical restructuring.

Ping An Insurance (Group) has increased its investments in rental income property while cutting exposure to developers after taking a massive hit on China Fortune Land Development.

A unit of China’s biggest insurance group has confirmed it provides cover for the under-construction Kimpton Hotel that was engulfed by fire last week. However, reinsurance means it will pay about a quarter of the possible US$64 million claim.

The claim could run as high as US$64 million because the project was 90 per cent complete, says Chan Kin-por, who represents the insurance industry in Hong Kong’s legislature.

The ‘Spin Off HSBC Asia Concern Group’ seeks a return of the annual dividend to pre-pandemic levels and a quarterly report on efforts to increase the value of the Asia business, including a potential spin-off.

Four major Hong Kong insurers including the local units of Ping An and China Taiping plan to introduce a new ‘one-stop’ motor insurance policy covering the city and Greater Bay Area as they expect cross-border traffic to surge under a forthcoming easing of travel quotas.

The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission says Peking University Founder Group’s finance unit can enter bankruptcy proceedings.

Shan Weijian was the co-managing partner of San Francisco-based private-equity firm Newbridge Capital when it took over a controlling stake in Shenzhen Development Bank in 2005.

HSBC’s profit expected to increase 7 per cent in 2022, surge 42 per cent to US$19.2 billion in 2023, according to the latest consensus forecast.

Ping An Asset Management chairman calls for HSBC management to ‘adopt an open attitude’ regarding suggestions to improve its performance.

Hong Kong’s biggest banks are expected to benefit from rising interest rates in the third quarter, but questions remain about how slowing growth, particularly in China, could affect bank bottom lines.

PICC and China Export & Credit Insurance Corp came in last, while Ping An ranked 22nd on a list of 30 companies assessed by global NGO coalition Insure Our Future.

HSBC is exploring a potential sale of its Canadian operations as it faces pressure from its largest shareholder, Ping An Insurance Group, to break up its business.

Co-CEO Jessica Tan says China’s biggest insurer supports any proposal to improve the performance of HSBC and boost returns to shareholders.

Ping An beats estimates as it reports a 4 per cent jump in first-half profit. But poor performance of core insurance business and sharp drop in investment income has led to Ping An calling on HSBC to split its Asian business to enhance value, analyst says.

Ping An Insurance Group, the biggest shareholder of HSBC, has decided to push back against the lender’s resistance to spin off its Asia business, according to a source close to the insurer.

High on shareholders’ minds is whether the London-based bank should continue to straddle the gulf between the East and the West, and how it can navigate the geopolitical minefield in deteriorating US-China relations.

District council member Christine Fong in a Facebook post calls on HSBC to spin off its Asia business and bring back the bank’s primary listing to Hong Kong.