Great Eastern Q1 net profit down 5% to S$220.5m due to lack of one-off gain

INSURER Great Eastern on Friday morning reported a net profit of S$220.5 million for its first quarter ended March 31, 2015, down 5 per cent from S$231.6 million a year ago.

Profit for the quarter a year ago included a one-off pre-tax gain of S$31.9 million from the sale of part of joint venture Great Eastern Life Assurance (China) Company from a stake of 50 per cent to 25 per cent. Excluding the one-off gain, net profit was 9 per cent higher.

Gross premiums collected rose one per cent to S$1.88 billion from S$1.85 billion.

On April 14, the group sold 85 million shares in New China Life Insurance company for HK$4.3 billion (S$763 million). Proceeds will be used for portfolio reallocation.

Great Eastern closed on Thursday at S$24.65, down four cents or 0.2 per cent.