Great Eastern Q1 profit remains steady at S$346.3 million despite challenging investment environment

[SINGAPORE] Great Eastern posted a 0.2 per cent increase in net profit to S$346.3 million for its first quarter ended Mar 31, 2026, from S$345.5 million in the previous corresponding period.

The group reported in a bourse filing on Wednesday (May 6) that its net profit remained steady year on year despite a less favourable investment environment.

Performance was underpinned by improved insurance profits of S$329 million, up 33 per cent from S$246.8 million a year earlier. This was supported by a release in reserves reflecting positive experience and strong underlying fundamentals, said the insurance arm of OCBC .

This was partly offset by weaker investment performance in the shareholders’ fund, where profit declined 82 per cent to S$17.3 million due to equity and fixed income mark-to-market losses.

Total weighted new sales (TWNS) for the quarter rose 16 per cent to S$401.9 million from S$345.1 million a year earlier. 

This was driven by sustained momentum in Singapore, where TWNS grew 24 per cent to S$266.8 million on improved productivity from both agency and bancassurance channels. 

TWNS from Malaysia was broadly flat at S$126.8 million as demand for insurance products remained subdued amid “challenging market sentiment”.

New business embedded value, a measure of long-term profitability of new sales, recorded a growth of 31 per cent to S$195.4 million. 

Greg Hingston, group CEO of Great Eastern, said that the group’s fundamentals “positions us well to navigate ongoing market uncertainty, while maintaining the flexibility to continue investing in our strategic priorities and deliver sustainable growth as we move through the rest of the year”.

SEE ALSO

HSBC misses profit estimates on fraud-related credit loss, Iran war risks

OCBC’s Indonesia deal boosts wealth push, may herald more M&A under new CEO Tan Teck Long: analysts

Shares of Great Eastern closed S$0.01 or 0.1 per cent lower at S$15.60 on Tuesday.