Ping An Voted Asia’s Best Managed Insurer Third Year in a Row
Hong Kong, Shanghai, 7 January 2011 - Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China Ltd (hereafter "Ping An" or "the Group", HKEX: 02318; SSE: 601318) has been named the top insurer in Asia for the third year in a row in a survey by international financial magazine Euromoney. Ping An is the only insurer to have been included in the award.
The survey, which took place from September to November last year, asked analysts at leading banks and research institutes across Asia to rate companies in their respective countries on their market strength, profitability, growth potential and quality of management and earnings. A total of 798 Asian companies were included in the survey. The survey shows that Ping An has once again come out on top of other insurers nominated in the 2010 survey, scoring the highest average ratings in the insurance category and replicating its success in the same survey in the previous years.
Ping An posted a net profit of RMB13.197 billion for the first three quarters of 2010 and earnings per share of RMB1.71, representing year-on-year increases of 8.4% and 6.9% respectively. Over the same period, the net assets of the Group rose by 26.6% to RMB116.140 billion from the end of 2009. The Group's insurance business maintained sound and rapid growth momentum with a significant growth in written premiums for individual life insurance new business during the period. Total written premiums for the first three quarters of 2010 reached RMB128.145 billion, representing an increase of 22.4% on a year-on-year basis. Ping An Bank realized a net profit of RMB1.373 billion for the first three quarters of 2010, representing an increase of 73.1% on a year-on-year basis, with total assets reaching RMB239.13 billion. The number of accumulated issued credit cards exceeded 5.5 million. As a 29.99% associate company of Ping An, Shenzhen Development Bank contributed RMB635 million in profit for the first three quarters of 2010. Ping An's investment banking arm continued to be a leading underwriter in the SME and GEM markets, having sponsored 30 IPOs and underwritten 7 refinancing projects. This ranks Ping An at the top of the league table by the number of deals and volume of underwriting fees received.
On corporate governance, Ping An continues to commit to creating shareholder value and adhering to of its stated corporate governance principles outlined as follows: to abide by the listing rules, the laws in China and regulatory requirements; to meet international standards, China's actual conditions or specific industry requirements. As a public company listed on both the Shanghai and Hong Kong stock exchanges through the listings of its A shares and H share, Ping An strictly observes to the listing rules and regulations of the two exchanges. In addition, in order to help investors better understand its operation, the Group discloses relevant information in a proactive, timely and equitable manner through channels such as results announcement, investors/analysts open day, road shows, online road shows, spokesperson, the corporate website and 24-hour investor service hotlines.
Ping An comments, "It's a great honor that Ping An has once again been named for this award. This recognition by the investment community of our efforts in improving our business performance and corporate governance will serve to encourage us all at Ping An to continue to lift the standards of the insurance industry. Ping An will continue to commit to building a quality corporate governance platform to the highest international standards. This will help Ping An pave the way to become a leading integrated financial services conglomerate on the international stage, ultimately creating greater value for our shareholders."
Winners of the "Best Managed Companies in Asia" award also include China Telecom, Sun Hung Kai and a number of leading companies in various industries.
Ping An's outstanding performance in business and corporate governance has won it many accolades over the years. In 2010 alone, Ping An was named in numerous prestigious rankings and awards. They include: The Financial Times Global 500 Companies list, Forbes Global 2000 Companies list, four Best Managed Company awards from FinanceAsia, Recognition Awards of Corporate Governance Asia magazine for the fourth time, Wall Street Journal's Asia 200 ranking of leading companies and the Hong Kong Corporate Governance Excellence Awards jointly held by the Chamber of Hong Kong Listed Companies and the Baptist University.
