AIA Group 1299

[winston]

not vested

DJ MARKET TALK: AIA's VoNB Growth Likely To Slow But Well Flagged-Citi

1538 [Dow Jones] STOCK CALL: Citigroup believes AIA's (1299.HK) VoNB (value of new business) growth will likely decelerate from 4Q11 onwards, as a result of a higher base for comparison (new management team and reform measures largely came into place in 4Q10) and the USD's strength in 2H11.

That said, it believes the base effect is well-flagged while the USD's rise is unlikely become a long-term trend.

"We have faith in AIA's execution, and believe it has the ability to continue to deliver stronger-than-expected results (teens, if not 20%, VoNB growth on a normalized basis)," Citi says;

It keeps a Buy call with a HK$30.00 target. AIA is down 1.9% at HK$23.45.

Source: Dow Jones Newswire

[winston]

not vested

DJ MARKET TALK: AIA Outperforms +0.8%;But AIG Stake Overhang Remains

1121 [Dow Jones] AIA (1299.HK) is 0.8% higher at HK$24.30 vs the HSI's 1.4% decline, outperforming for the second straight session;

Volume is strong at HK$421.6 million, making the stock the 9th most heavily-traded in Hong Kong.

Prior to this week's outperformance, AIA has recently lagged the HSI.

"The stock is merely playing some catch-up," says William Lo, an analyst at Ample Capital.

Technically, the stock appears to find HK$25.00 a tough level to crack (intraday high on Monday was HK$23.65, then HK$23.60 today), but a breakthrough is likely if AIG sells about half of its stake in the pan-Asian life insurer, as such a move would clear an overhang.

According to a WSJ report last week, AIG is aiming to sell AIA shares at more than AIA's IPO price of HK$19.68, and any sale could be launched and completed within a day, given ample investor interest in AIA, according to people familiar with the likely deal.

Source: Dow Jones Newswire

[winston]

not vested

DJ MARKET TALK: GS Lowers AIA Target, But Keeps As Conviction Buy

0906 [Dow Jones] STOCK CALL: Goldman Sachs slashes AIA Group's (1299.HK) FY11 EPS/EV estimates by 35%/6%, mainly on equity market MTM.

Still, it remains positive on AIA as the cuts are a reflection of equity market movements, not company specific; also, these cuts are not recurrent, but set the base lower for 2012.

"More importantly, AIA's continued its solid execution across the region," GS says, noting the latest Thai October data releases indicated much more contained flood damage than its previous worst-case assumption.

The house lowers AIA target to HK$35 from HK$37, but keeps the stock at its Asia Pacific Conviction Buy list. AIA slid 1.5% to end Tuesday at HK$23.40.

Source: Dow Jones Newswire

[winston]

AIA Group Ltd is expected to name Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley as advisers for a possible bid for ING's Asian insurance operations, sources said on Thursday, a deal that could be worth more than $6 billion.


Source: Reuters

[winston]

not vested

DJ MARKET TALK: Focus On AIA's Underlying Business Trend - CS

1103 [Dow Jones] Credit Suisse forecasts AIA (1299.HK) to report a FY11 NPAT of US$1.51 billion, and operating NPAT (underlying profit before the impact of markets) of US$1.91 billion and a final dividend of 26 HK cents.

It encourages investors to look through the weak headline profits and focus on
(1) underlying (operating) profit,
(2) the value of new business growth allowing for the impact of the floods in Thailand,
(3) total premium growth looking through on a constant currency basis,
(4) the solvency position, which is likely to be weaker due to falling bond yields in 2H11, but still strong on an absolute level, and
(5) the embedded value which is also likely to be hit by weak markets and bond yield movements.

The house keeps its Neutral call with a target price of HK$27.50.

AIA is expected to report its FY11 results on Feb. 24 before the market opens. The stock is last up 0.9% at HK$26.90.


Source: Dow Jones Newswire

[winston]

UPDATE 1-AIA reports new business grew 40 pct in 2011

Feb 24 (Reuters) - AIA Group Ltd <1299.HK>, Asia's No.3 insurer, reported a 40 percent rise in value of new business (VONB) in the year ended Nov. 30, 2011, helped by strong growth in Singapore, China and Malaysia.

VONB for the period rose to $932 million while VONB margin climbed 4.6 percentage points to 37.2 percent, the company said in a filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. VONB is a measure of the present value of future business.

"The value of new business came in way above consensus. We were looking for $883 million and we were at the high end of Street estimates," said Stanley Tsai, an analyst at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods in Hong Kong.

"Volumes were in line or slightly below expectations but margins were very high. That was driven mainly by Hong Kong and Thailand," Tsai said.

The margin on new business growth in Hong Kong in 2011 was 56.1 percent. In Thailand, it was 48.8 percent.

AIA said that its future performance would depend on the global economy, noting continuing uncertainties could "have a negative impact upon Asian economic growth rates and consequently upon AIA's business." But it added that in the absence of major external shocks an "immense opportunity exists for AIA given present levels of wealth, the significant protection gap across the region and likely future economic growth."

Source: Reuters

[winston]

not vested

DJ MARKET TALK: CS Raises AIA Target To HK$30.00, Keeps Neutral

1313 [Dow Jones] STOCK CALL: Credit Suisse raises AIA's (1299.HK) target price to HK$30.00 from HK$27.50 given the better-than-expected VNB (value of new business) metrics, but keeps the stock at Neutral.

The house says AIA's FY11 results highlights strong execution on both the key strategies of margin enhancement and agent productivity, with much room for progress; it adds, the strong balance sheet gives it additional flexibility in terms of M&A and/or capital management.

"We caution however that it is currently cycling somewhat 'easier' prior period comparisons, which will become progressively harder," CS says.

AIA zooms 3.7% higher to HK$29.35 at midday on top of its 3.3% post-results rally Friday.


Source: Dow Jones Newswire

[winston]

not vested

AIG selling down AIA shares for US$6b, at a discount to the last traded price

Source: CNBC

[winston]

not vested

DJ AIG To Raise US$6 Bln In AIA Share Placement - Term Sheet

HONG KONG (Dow Jones)--American International Group Inc. (AIG) is raising about US$6 billion selling 1.7 billion shares in insurance company AIA Group Ltd. (1299.HK), according to a term sheet seen by Dow Jones Newswires, as the U.S.-based company plans to further reduce its debt to the U.S. government.

AIG, which currently holds 32.89% of AIA Group, is selling AIA Group shares at HK$27.15 to HK$27.50 each, representing a 5.8% to 7.0% discount to its closing price Friday of HK$29.20.

There is a lock up of six months on AIG's remaining AIA Group shares.

Shares of AIA Group were suspended from trading Monday pending an announcement about major shareholder AIG's potential share placement, the insurance company said.

Source: Dow Jones Newswires

[winston]

DJ MARKET TALK: AIA Down 8.0%; Not Attractive To Bet For Rebound

1406 [Dow Jones] AIA (1299.HK) is still down 8.0% at HK$26.85 on a hefty volume of HK$50.32 billion, about half of the Hong Kong market's total volume.

It falls below the HK$27.15, level at which AIG sold 1.72 billion shares. Emperor Securities' vice president Anthony Lam says "it's not very enticing" to buy AIA shares at the current level, as while it may stage a technical rebound to above HK$27 in the near term, further upside may be quite limited given huge chunk of shares being placed.

At midday break, AIA is the most heavily shorted HK stock with HK$174.01 worth of shorts.

Source: Dow Jones Newswire