Ping An Insurance Q3 profit declines 31.5% on investment income

SHANGHAI/BEIJING -Ping An Insurance Group, China's largest insurer by market value, on Wednesday reported a 31.5 per cent fall in third-quarter profit on weak investment income.

Net profit for the three months to September fell to 16.19 billion yuan ($2.26 billion) from 23.6 billion yuan a year earlier, the company said in a stock exchange filing.

Investment income in the first nine months of the year fell 81.6 per cent to 10.43 billion yuan, from 56.65 billion yuan in the year-earlier period.

The decline was "due to COVID-19 and falling capital markets," the insurer said.

The group's gross written premiums rose 2.18 per cent to 604.66 billion yuan from the year before, while the number of retail customers rose 2.6 per cent from the end of last December to 227.6 million.

"Domestic consumption and investment will pick up slowly as sporadic COVID-19 breakouts weigh on domestic economic recovery in the short run, posing challenges to Ping An’s business growth," the company said.

"Moreover, credit risks will increase, asset quality will remain under pressure, and equity markets will become more volatile due to the complex and severe international environment."

Ping An Insurance Group is the controlling shareholder of Ping An Bank, which reported a 26.1 per cent rise in third-quarter net profit.

($1 = 7.1680 Chinese yuan renminbi)