Investment income boosts Chinese insurers

[FaGal]

19 aprile 2005

Investment income boosts Chinese insurers

China’s two dominant insurance companies reported robust earnings for 2004 on stronger investment income, but warned of intensified competition from their foreign rivals following further liberalisation of the market.


China Life, the country’s largest life assurer, reported stronger-than-expected earnings as investment income surged 67 per cent to Rmb11.3bn while net premiums rose 28 per cent to Rmb65bn. Pro-forma earnings rose 22 per cent to Rmb5.86bn.

Ping An Insurance, China’s second largest life assurer, said net income soared 34 per cent to Rmb3.12bn as investment income rose 22 per cent to Rmb6.5bn.

The two companies own a combined 64 per cent of China’s fledging life insurance market, where only 2.4 per cent of the population had insurance coverage in 2004.

Although lagging the strong growth of previous years, premiums in the industry rose 11.3 per cent to Rmb431.8bn last year, fuelled by a booming economy and market liberalisation. The potential of the market is attracting global insurance groups, with about 30 foreign enterprises, including American International Group, having won approval to do business in China.

Domestic insurers’ earnings were boosted by Beijing’s recent move to allow insurers to diversify their investment portfolios to include equities. Until late last year Chinese insurers were limited to investing in bonds and domestic mutual funds.

China Life also said Monday it was seeking approval to expand into property insurance just as rival PICC, the leading casualty and property insurer, plans to enter the life market.

PICC said last week it would set up a life insurance joint venture with Japan's Sumitomo Life Insurance, Hong Kong's Asia Financial Holdings and Bangkok Bank, marking its first step into the Rmb322.8bn market.

Miao Fuchun, China Life's executive director and vice-president, said the company was in talks with unnamed potential partners to set up a non-life insurance joint venture, but declined to comment further.

The company said foreign insurers were not strong competitors yet.

"Foreign players may be growing faster than us, but their market share is very small. In the life market, it rose from 2 per cent in 2003 to 2.6 per cent in 2004," said Lin Dairen, vice-president. China Life's share of the life market rose from 45 per cent in 2003 to 47 per cent in 2004.

Shares in Ping An, which rose by about 14 per cent from their 2004 listing, edged up 2 per cent to HK$11.25 by early Tuesday afternoon.

Shares in China Life, which fell 7 percent since the start of this year, rose 4 per cent to HK$5.05 on Tuesday.
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[FaGal]

Cina: prospettive del ramo vita
28/04/2005

Secondo un recente rapporto di McKinsey, il mercato delle polizze cinesi continuerà nei prossimi anni il processo di forte crescita registratosi nell’ultimo decennio. Si stima che nel 2008 il totale complessivo dei premi sarà pari a oltre 100 miliardi di dollari, un valore superiore a quello di Francia e Germania.

Il settore è molto concentrato, con tre imprese che si dividono il 90% del mercato, ma queste imprese sono relativamente poco efficienti: ad esempio, la produttività degli agenti è solo un quarto di quella delle principali compagnie di Hong Kong.

Le principali compagnie mondiali sono già presenti in Cina in joint ventures con imprese locali e, secondo il rapporto, potrebbero sfruttare le enormi potenzialità del mercato sviluppando nuove reti di vendita riferita a una clientela più selezionata o attraverso l’acquisto e la riconversione di compagnie locali.
Fonte: ANIA Trends, aprile 2005
http://www2.assinews.it:8080/testi/t...280405mer.html