Ping An Announces Results for the First Nine Months of 2009

Ping An Announces Results

for the First Nine Months of 2009

 Sustained Growth Momentum Across Core Businesses

Shanghai, Hong Kong, October 27,2009 – Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. (“Ping An” or “the Group”, HKEX: 2318; SSE: 601318) today announced its unaudited results for the nine months ended September 30,2009.

Driven by the growing capabilities of its integrated financial services structure, the Group’s core businesses - insurance, banking and investment – have sustained stable growth momentum and have successfully laid a solid foundation for the Group’s long term development. During the period under review, insurance premium income grew sharply year on year as both life and property and casualty businesses continued to win market share. The banking business expanded rapidly in scale and maintained its industry leadership in asset quality. The investment business also performed well. Through successfully capturing market movements and investment opportunities, it has contributed solidly to the profitability of the Group.

During the quarter under review, the financial market continued to recover as economic activities began to pick up thanks to the stimulus measures implemented by the Chinese government.  The Group stayed focused on implementing its stated strategy of achieving sustainable growth for its businesses while outpacing the market while acting swiftly and responsively to cope with changing conditions in the financial markets and the macroeconomic environment.  The Group’s core businesses – insurance, banking and investment – continued to deliver outperformance as a result. Despite volatility in China’s financial markets in the third quarter, the Group was able to capitalize on the market swings, contributing to profit growth.

Under International Financial Reporting Standards, Ping An’s net profit and EPS for the first nine months of 2009 were up 388.1% to RMB8,806 million and up 418.2% to  RMB1.14 respectively over the corresponding period in 2008.  Net asset was up 20.5% to RMB103,226 million compared to that of December 31, 2008. Under PRC Accounting Standards, the Group recorded a net profit of RMB7,343 million for the nine months ended September 30,2009. Net asset was up 19.7% to RMB97,536 million compared to that of December 31, 2008.

The Group’s insurance business maintained rapid yet healthy growth as both life and property and casualty businesses continued to win market share. For the nine months ended September 30 ,2009, the life business recorded a 33.5% growth in premium income, to RMB104,724 million year on year, while expanding its market share to 16.8% and growing the number of sales agents by 13.3% to 403,000 as compared to the end of 2008.

In keeping with the Group’s “Surpassing Targets Healthily” strategy, the property and casualty business grew premium income by 38.5% to RMB29,020 million for the nine-month period while lifting its share of the market to 12.3%. The Group’s annuity business maintained its leading position in the market as both assets entrusted and assets under investment management exceeded RMB20,000 million as at the end of the period.

The Group’s banking business continued to achieve above-industry growth in a number of areas during the nine-month period, while successfully maintaining its leadership in asset quality in the industry. Ping An Bank’s total assets grew to RMB207,819 million as at September 30,2009, up 42.3% from the end of 2008; total deposits and loans were up 35.3% and 48.0% respectively from the end of 2008; non-performing loan ratio held steady at 0.44%, down 0.1 percentage points from the end of last year, thanks to Ping An Bank’s effective credit risk management effort. The accumulated number of credit cards in circulation exceeded 2.8 million, while 56.8% of new cards issued came from cross-selling.

The Group’s investment business continued to optimize its asset allocation in response to market movements during the nine-month period. Both its securities business and trust business performed well during the period. Ping An Asset Management, through improved research capabilities, was able to capitalize on market movements and contributed to the Group’s profitability. Ping An Securities underwrote five IPOs on the Small & Medium Enterprises Board in the third quarter, maintaining its edge in the small and medium enterprise (SME) financing business. It also offered the first collective asset management plan focused on investing in small/mid-tier firms. Ping An Trust achieved RMB107,357 million of assets held in trust under management, up 121.3% from the end of 2008.

The Group has greatly enhanced the quality of its insurance and banking products and services this year with the launch of a Promise Campaign. During the period, Ping An One Account Management Services was officially rolled out nationally. The initiative offers Ping An customers one-stop shop services and access to multiple products, marking an important milestone in the development of the Group’s integrated financial business in China.

Looking into the fourth quarter, Ping An announced: “Although the global economy shows signs of stability, a full-scale recovery will still be a long, zigzag and complicated course. The Chinese economy is to face many uncertainties and instabilities, the yield of the bond market will maintain at a lower level for a relatively long period of time, and the fluctuation in stock market is exacerbating. All of these will affect our performance in the fourth quarter. In the fourth quarter, we will continue to focus on keeping our businesses growing in a healthy and stable manner. Then by capitalizing on the nationwide launch of Ping An One Account Management Services, focusing on the twin goals of increasing the number of valuable customers and exploring the value of each customer, and deepening cross-selling contributions to our rapid business growth with enhanced synergy of integrated financial services platform, we will push our integrated financial strategy implementation ahead, so as to lay a solid foundation for the long-term sustainable growth of our enterprise value.“