Ping An 2318

[winston]

not vested

Broker│Opinion

JPMorgan│Strong VONB growth and stable OPAT to boost share price in near term

Huatai Securities│Life insurance recovery continues to gain momentum

UBS│Quarterly OPAT decline narrows as expected, VONB benefits from higher VONB rate

Goldman Sachs│Profit and VONB beat

Nomura│Earnings beat across all business units

Citi│Quarterly VONB beats

UOB Kay Hian│Quarterly OPAT decline but in line, VONB growth beats

CICC│Quarterly net profit beats

Morgan Stanley│Life insurance and asset management could be highlights

BofAS│1Q net profit and VONB beat

Jefferies│Quarterly results positive, more improvement needed to get share price back on track

Related NewsM Stanley: CN Life Insurers Post Positive Growth in Premium in Mar

Source: AAStocks Financial News

http://www.aastocks.com/en/stocks/news/ ... -news/AAFN

[winston]

Ping An Insurance Group (2318 HK)
1Q24: Spring Is Around The Corner

Ping An’s results are broadly in line.

The declines in OPAT and net profit were mainly due to weak equity market returns and higher CoR in the P&C segment.

VNB growth grew 21% yoy, beating our expectations, led by margin improvement.

Net investment yield dropped to 3.0% and its insurance fund exposure to property was largely
manageable.

Looking ahead, we continue to expect a mid to high single-digit NBV growth and 20% OPAT growth in 2024.

Maintain BUY. Target price: HK$52.00.

Source: UOBKH

https://research.uobkayhian.com/content ... e=hs_email

[winston]

vested

<Research>G Sachs: PING AN CB Issuance Can Provide Low-cost Financing w/ Limited Potential Dilution Impact

PING AN (02318.HK) reportedly intends to raise US$3.5 billion through a way of convertible bond (CB) issuance, Goldman Sachs released a research report saying.

Goldman Sachs believed that the scale of the issuance may be small compared to PING AN's annual dividend, and estimated that the potential dilution impact will be limited.

Goldman Sachs kept rating at Buy, with a target price of $55.

Related News: JPM Foresees BABA-SW (09988.HK) Shr Price to Range Bound Next 3-6 Mths

Based on yesterday's (15th) closing price and assuming a conversion premium of 25-30%, the potential dilution impact is expected to be about 2%, Goldman Sachs said.

In addition, the CB coupon rate was 0.375-0.875%, which is similar to the CB issued by BABA-SW (09988.HK) , JD-SW (09618.HK) and TRIP.COM-S (09961.HK) , representing a low-cost financing for PING AN.

Source: AAStocks Financial News

http://www.aastocks.com/en/stocks/news/ ... -news/AAFN

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vested

PING AN (02318.HK) Mulls to Cancel 100M+ A-shrs Previously Repurchased

PING AN (02318.HK) announced that it proposed to cancel the about 102 million A-shares repurchased on the SSE from 27 August 2021 to 26 August 2022, representing approximately 0.56338% of the total share capital of the company.

The shares under the repurchase were planned to be used exclusively for the employee stock ownership plan of the company, including but not limited to the long-term service plan which has been considered and approved at the general meeting of the company.

Related News: CICC Cuts TP of PING AN (02318.HK) to $55.65, Keeps Outperform Rating

However, in view of the company’s confidence in its sustainable development, and to safeguard the interests of investors, the company proposes to change the use of the shares under the repurchase, and cancel the repurchased shares, which are deposited in the repurchased securities account of the company.

PING AN noted that upon completion of the cancellation, the registered capital and share capital of the company will be decreased accordingly.

The cancellation is subject to the consideration and approval of the board and general meeting of the company, while the change of registered capital is subject to the approval of the National Financial Regulatory Administration.

Related News - UBS: If PING AN (02318.HK) Issues US$2B-US$5B CB, Full Exercise Will Cause 1.8-4.9% Dilution Impact

Source: AAStocks Financial News

http://www.aastocks.com/en/stocks/news/ ... -news/AAFN

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vested

<Research>G Sachs Trims PING AN (02318.HK) TP to $41; Asset Risk Manageable

PING AN (02318.HK)'s H-share price has underperformed its peers by about 20% over the past 12 months amid investors' concerns about its asset losses and financial position, according to a recent report by Goldman Sachs.

Goldman Sachs commented that PING AN's current price has reflected its lower long-term projected return on assets (ROA) for Ping An Life compared to its peers.

The broker believed the current valuation level was not reasonable given that Ping An Life was in a better position to manage its negative spread risk.

Goldman Sachs pointed out that Ping An Life's risk and expense margins were higher than those of its peers, and it had a higher share of products that share investment risks with policyholders.

Meanwhile, PING AN, as a leader in brokerage efficiency, had one of the lowest channel commissions among listed life insurers.

When compared to its closest peers including Taiping Life under CHINA TAIPING (00966.HK) and CHINA LIFE (02628.HK) , PING AN's ROA gap is expected to reach about 50 bps in the next three years and 10-15 bps in the long term.

Related News: CLSA Prefers PING AN for CN Insurers, Remains Cautious on CPIC, CHINA LIFE and NCI

Believing that PING AN's higher quality earnings performance would drive the stock's performance,

Goldman Sachs reiterated a Buy rating with the asset risk at a manageable level.

However, in the light of the latest market conditions and insurance sales, the broker lowered its FY24-FY26 EPS forecast, while upwardly revising its enterprise value forecast by about 1%, with a TP lowered to $41.

Source: AAStocks Financial News

http://www.aastocks.com/en/stocks/news/ ... -news/AAFN

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vested

<Results>PING AN Interim NP RMB74.619B, Up 6.8%; Interim DPS Kept RMB93 Cents

PING AN (02318.HK) announced its interim results for the period ended June 2024.

Revenue totaled RMB554.097 billion, up 1.5% YoY.

Net profit was RMB74.619 billion, up 6.8% YoY.

Basic EPS was RMB4.21.

The interim dividend was RMB93 cents per share, flat YoY.

Life & Health New Business Value (NBV) amounted to RMB22.32 billion in the first half of 2024, up 11% YoY.

The NBV of the agent channel went up 10.8% and NBV per agent up 36% YoY.

Related News: CLSA Adjusts TPs for Insurers; Top Picks AIA (01299.HK), PICC P&C (02328.HK)

By integrating providers, Ping An partnered with all top 100 hospitals and 3A hospitals, and accumulated about 50,000 in-house doctors and contracted external doctors in China as of June 30, 2024.

Ping An partnered with approximately 233,000 pharmacies as of June 30, 2024, up by over 2,500 year to date.

Customers entitled to service benefits in the health and senior care ecosystem accounted for over 68% of Ping An Life’s NBV in the first half of 2024.

Source: AAStocks Financial News

http://www.aastocks.com/en/stocks/news/ ... -news/AAFN

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vested

New business grows as Ping An battens down

by June Chen & Reuters

6.8 percent rise in first-half net profit.

The Chinese insurance giant posted a net profit of 74.62 billion yuan (HK$81.51 billion) up from 69.84 billion yuan in the same period last year.

The new business value of life and health insurance business, which measures the profitability of new policies sold, grew 11 percent year-on-year to 22.32 billion yuan in the first half of this year.

Ping An's insurance funds investment portfolio reached an annualized comprehensive investment yield of 4.2 percent in the first half of this year, compared to 4.1 percent in the same period a year ago.

The results come as Chinese insurers are grappling with declining investment yield as a bond rally has pushed yields to record lows, powered by institutional investors that seek a safe haven from a slowing economy.

Its banking unit, Ping An Bank last week reported a 13 percent year-on-year decline in its revenue in the first half of this year. The bank's net profit grew 1.9 percent.

Source: The Standard

https://www.thestandard.com.hk/section- ... ttens-down

[winston]

not vested

<Research>CLSA: PING AN Becomes Major Beneficiary of CN Policies; Long-term Top Picks Remain AIA, PICC P&C

Chinese insurers rallied after the announcement of financial stimulus measures in China, CLSA issued a research report saying.

CLSA concluded that the focus was most relevant to Chinese insurers.

The broker said that the press conference is a positive surprise, and it is incrementally positive on Chinese insurers in the short term.

CLSA saw PING AN (02318.HK) as the main beneficiary, while CHINA LIFE (02628.HK) and NCI (01336.HK) may benefit from the short-term share price hike due to improved market sentiment and property easing.

However, CLSA was worried about the pressure of profit-taking on CPIC (02601.HK) .

CLSA believed that all the policies show a positive change in regulators' mindset, which may mean more actions from the government.

CLSA's long-term top picks remain AIA (01299.HK) and PICC P&C (02328.HK) , the report added.

Source: AAStocks Financial News

http://www.aastocks.com/en/stocks/news/ ... -news/AAFN

[winston]

not vested

Ping An net jumps 36pc to 119b yuan

Ping An Insurance (2318) saw its net profit jump by 36 percent to 119.2 billion yuan (HK$130.3 billion) for the first nine months this year from a year ago, after a stock-market rally bolstered investment returns at China's second-largest insurer by market value.

Operating profit, which the insurer says better reflects performance by stripping out short-term investment volatility and one-time items, rose 5.5 percent.

A 17 percent rally in the mainland's blue-chip index CSI 300 Index this year through September 30 has bolstered the value of Chinese insurers' stock holdings.

Ping An's insurance funds investment portfolio reached an annualized comprehensive investment yield of 5 percent in the first nine months this year, up 1.3 percentage points from the same period a year ago.

Meanwhile, Chinese online lender Lufax (6623), backed by Ping An, swung to a net loss of 725 million yuan in the third quarter, compared to a profit of 131 million yuan a year earlier.

Source: AP

https://www.thestandard.com.hk/section- ... -119b-yuan

[winston]

not vested

Ping An Insurance (2318 HK / 601318 CH)

Recommendation : BUY
Fair Value : HKD 67.45 (2318 HK) / CNY 64.40 (601318 CH)

Solid 9M24 performance

9M24 operating profit attributable to shareholders of parent company (OPAT) and profit after tax and minority interests (PATMI) increased by 5.5% and 36.1% year-on-year (YoY) to CNY113.8b and CNY119.2b, respectively

New business value (NBV) on a like-for-like basis jumped 34.1% YoY to CNY35.2b, underpinned by higher agent productivity and margins expansion

Combined ratio (CoR) for its property & casualty (P&C) business improved by 1.5 percentage points (ppt) YoY to 97.8%

Ping An Insurance (Ping An) is China’s second largest life and P&C insurer, with an integrated financial services platform.

Driven by its strong agency focus, diversified business model and proprietary technology to improve the customer experience and facilitate cross-sales efforts, Ping An should continue to deliver organic growth in life/health insurance and internet finance, benefiting from the rising protection and wealth management needs of China’s rising middle class.

Following the life reform transition period for the company, which focused on improving its agent productivity and better integration of product offerings, we expect continued distribution cost discipline and life product mix improvements over the medium term.

Dividend policy has ranged between ~28% and 37% of OPAT from FY17 to FY23, with dividends per share (DPS) increasing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.4% during the period.

Source: OCBC