Ping An Profit Drops as Pandemic Curbs Revenue Growth

(Bloomberg) -- Ping An Insurance (Group) Co., China’s largest insurer by market value, said profit declined last year after overhauling its main life unit and as the Covid-19 pandemic curbed revenue growth.

Net income fell to 143 billion yuan ($22 billion), the company said in a statement Wednesday. That beat the 132 billion yuan average estimate of 23 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Operating earnings, which Ping An says better reflect performance by stripping out short-term investment volatility and one-time items, rose 4.9% to 139.5 billion yuan, trailing the 175 billion yuan analyst estimate.

Ping An’s recovery from a coronavirus-induced downturn early last year has been slowed by a major revamp of its core life-insurance unit aimed at removing less-competitive agents and low-margin products to bolster profitability. The Shenzhen-based company’s life premiums fell 2%, shrinking its market share faster than other big rivals as the sector expanded 7%.

Individual life first-year premiums slumped more than 50% in December, prompting Morgan Stanley analyst Jenny Jiang to cut estimates last month for new business value, which gauges the future profitability of new life policies.

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