Ping An profit falls on weak sales and market turmoil

PING An Insurance (Group), the nation’s second-largest insurer by market value, said profit dropped 6.3 per cent in the first nine months as a slump in the stock market hurt investment returns and an economic slowdown hampered sales.

Net income fell to 76.5 billion yuan (S$15 billion) in the nine months ended Sep 30, the Shenzhen-based company said on Wednesday (Oct 26). That compares with a 3.9 per cent gain in the first half.

China’s slumping stock market is adding to the challenges at Ping An, which is going through a painful reform at its core insurance arm. It’s also grappling with weakening demand amid the pandemic and a slowing economy.

Credit Suisse Group analysts earlier this month cut the insurer’s full-year profit forecast by 4 per cent to “reflect a soft A-share market” in the second half and lowered the target price of its Hong Kong-traded shares to HK$60 from HK$67.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index slumped 11 per cent in the three months ended Sep 30, accelerating from a 7 per cent loss in the first half, as Covid restrictions and a deepening property crisis weighed on the economy and markets. BLOOMBERG