by millionairemind » Thu Jul 29, 2010 5:57 am
Published July 29, 2010
Great Eastern Q2 earnings slide 24% to $74.4m
Results dragged down by 43% drop in profits from insurance ops
By CHEW XIANG
GREAT Eastern Holdings said net profit for its second quarter to June 30 fell 24 per cent to $74.4 million from $97.7 million a year ago. The poor results were due to starkly lower profits from insurance operations, which slumped 43 per cent year on year to $75 million.
Great Eastern said this was due to a 'poor investment performance arising from concerns relating to eurozone debt', as bond and equity prices around the world fell sharply.
Net profit for first-half 2010 was down 24 per cent to $253.5 million. But last year's results included an extraordinary profit contribution of $198.5 million. Excluding that, net profit for the latest H1 was up 86 per cent from a year ago.
Last year's one-time profit contribution arose from the move to a new risk-based regulatory capital framework in Malaysia and a portfolio matching exercise in Singapore, Great Eastern said.
Profit from investments fell 66 per cent in the latest Q2 due to a loss on the sale of investments and changes in fair value. But management and other expenses also fell - by 63 per cent to $14.8 million. Great Eastern said total weighted new sales rose 30 per cent year on year to $166.1 million, boosted by strong sales in Malaysia and Indonesia.
Q2 fees and other income increased 23 per cent year on year to $18.4 million due to the growth in assets under management by Lion Global Investors, which amounted to $27.8 billion at June 30. Cash and cash equivalents increased 13 per cent to $3.6 billion, from $3.2 billion at the end of last year.
Great Eastern warned that its future performance may be affected by interest rate changes and volatility in the financial markets arising from concerns relating to eurozone debt and an economic slowdown that is becoming apparent in the US, Europe and Asia, including China.
'Moving forward, the second half of the year is traditionally where we would expect sales to pick up, although we are mindful of the possible challenges arising out of the economic conditions in Europe, USA and China,' said Great Eastern's group chief executive Ng Keng Hooi.
'We will continue to focus our strategy on selling more protection products,' he said. 'We will also strengthen our agency force, widen our distribution channels and raise productivity levels.'
Its share price fell 10 cents yesterday to $16.70.
"If a speculator is correct half of the time, he is hitting a good average. Even being right 3 or 4 times out of 10 should yield a person a fortune if he has the sense to cut his losses quickly on the ventures where he has been wrong" - Bernard Baruch
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