Ping An Insurance profits skyrocketed 77.1% to $6.76b in Q1

Gross written premiums jumped 8.4% to $40.73b.

China’s largest insurance by market value, Ping An Insurance, saw its profits climb 77.1% YoY to $6.76b (RMB45.52b) in Q1 from $3.82b (RMB 25.7b)as the capital market recovery drove strong investment returns.

Ping An’s value of new business (NBV) of the life and health insurance business grew 6.1% YoY to $3.21b (RMB21.64m). Gross written premiums hit $40.73b (RMB274.38b), up 8.4% YoY from $37.58b (RMB253.12b) a year ago.

“We adjusted our product mix and focused more on high-value products, realizing a 5.9 pps rise YoY in NBV margin which partially offset the effect of a decline in first-year premium,” the firm explained.

Meanwhile, retail customers rose 3.6% YTD to 191 million. Internet users rose by 4.2% to 561 million. Ping An noted that they acquired 11 million new customers in Q1, of which a third (31.3%) were sourced from Internet users.