OREANDA-NEWS. November 03, 2011. Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. (hereafter "Ping An" or "the Group", HKEX: 2318; SSE: 601318) announced its unaudited results for the nine months ended September 30, 2011, reported the press-centre of Ping An.
 
During the third quarter, the profitability and comprehensive income of insurers came under pressure amid a crumbling equity market. The Group remained steadfast in pursuing its stated strategy in the face of significant volatility in the financial market and was able to deal with the short term market fluctuation in a cautious manner. As a result, the Group's core businesses maintained their steady growth, giving rise to a more balanced and stable profit mix. The Group's total assets surpassed the RMB 2 trillion mark while total revenue continued to grow alongside equity and net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company.
 
The Group posted RMB 14,519 million in net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company during the period under review, representing a year-on-year increase of 13.8%. If the RMB 1,952 million one-off impact to the income statement arising from the accounting treatment for the step-up consolidation of Shenzhen Development Bank in the third quarter were excluded, the Group's net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company for the period under review would have been RMB 16,471 million, representing an increase of 29.1% year on year.
 
Total assets of the Group were up by 86.9 % to RMB 2,189.41 billion compared with the end of last year. The equity attributable to shareholders of the parent company stood at RMB 121.13 billion, representing an increase of 8.1% compared with the beginning of this year. Following the successful completion of the major asset restructuring transaction for controlling SDB in July, the Group's banking business network now covered the whole country and its core competitiveness was further enhanced. The Group has moved into a new phase in the development of its integrated financial strategy.
         
Life Insurance Business: steady growth in written premiums and sales force
For the first three quarters, the Group recorded total premium income of RMB 159.96 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of 32.9 %. Ping An Life recorded total written premiums of RMB 144.06 billion for the first three quarters, representing an increase of 16.1% compared with the same period last year. Total premium income amounted to RMB 93.95 billion., representing a year-on-year increase of 32.0%. The relatively more profitable individual life insurance business recorded total written premiums of RMB 126.35 billion, up 25.0% year on year. Meanwhile, the agency force continued to grow during the period, with the number of individual life insurance agents increasing by 36 thousand to 489 thousand from the end of last year. Whilst growing the agency force, the Group has also accelerated the construction of its innovative E-marketing platform to enhance the productivity of agents. Ping An Life's issuance of debt and fund raising is in smooth process. In the third quarter, Ping An Life successfully raised RMB 4 billion of subordinated debt. In addition, the application of RMB 5 billion capital injection to Ping An Life has been approved by the regulatory authority in October. All these measures will help the Group get through the volatile investment market. As for the annuity business, the three major indicators, namely the annuity payment received, assets entrusted and assets under investment management, all maintained leading positions in the market.
 
 
Property and Casualty Insurance Business: premium income grows rapidly; combined ratio stays strong
 
Ping An Property & Casualty realized a premium income of RMB 61,586 million in the first three quarters, representing an increase of 35.5% compared with the same period last year. Premium income from cross-selling and telemarketing grew by a rapid 65.3%, which made channel contributions to the business reaching 39.5%. Notwithstanding the rapid growth in premium income, the business quality continued to improve and the combined ratio remained at a satisfactory level of 93.0%, down by 0.2 percentage point compared with the end of last year.
 
Banking Business:total assets surpass RMB1 trillion; profit contribution increases significantly; asset quality remains stable and risk contained
 
In July 2011, the Group completed the major asset restructuring transaction to gain control of SDB, as a result of which the Group and its subsidiaries now hold 52.38% of the total shares of SDB and the latter has become a subsidiary of the Group. SDB now holds 90.75% of the total issued share capital of Ping An Bank and the latter has become a subsidiary of SDB. After the consolidation, total assets of the two banks amounted to RMB 1,207.21 billion. The banking business contributed a profit of RMB 5,322 million to the Group. Amidst the integration and restructuring, the two banks still maintain good business momentum and quality. Total deposits of the bank group amounted to RMB 832.24 billion, with YTD third quarter deposits growth being one of the fastest amongst those joint-stock banks. Assets quality remained stable and risks were well contained, with the non-performing loan ratio and the provision coverage ratio at 0.43% and 365.77%, respectively, among the best in the industry. CAR and Core CAR were at 11.46% and 8.38%, respectively, all in line with the regulatory requirements.
 
Investment Business:Ping An Securities ranks 1st in the IPO league table; Ping An Trust's private wealth management business records significant growth; Ping An-UOB Fund's fund raises most among peers
 
During the period, Ping An Securities was ranked 1st in the IPO league table and accomplished the lead underwriting of 31 IPOs, five refinancing and 13 bonds issuance projects. The brokerage business opened five new offices while the number of new customer accounts continued to grow by 335.9 thousand. As at 30 September 2011, the private wealth management business of Ping An Trust grew healthily. The number of high-net-worth customers exceeded 12,000; the average fund raised per month amounted to RMB 6 billion, representing an increase of 300% as compared with the same period last year. Meanwhile, the management fees of trust products amounted to RMB 1,125 million, representing a significant increase of 152.8%. In a market environment where the issuance of new funds appeared to be exceptionally difficult, the first fund issued by Ping An-UOB Fund was a great success, raising RMB 3,197 million, making it the largest equity fund in terms of the size of first-time fund raised in the second half of the year. Contribution from cross-selling accounted for more than 60% of the results.
 
Ping An said: "In the third quarter of 2011, while China's economy continued to grow at a fast pace, the global economy was facing downward pressure, given the continuous spread of the American and European debt crisis and the significant fluctuation of the world's stock markets and the lack of investor and consumer confidence. Compared with last year, the investment sentiments now appeared to be more cautious and the operating environment becoming more challenging. However, we remain confident with the outlook of our businesses under the integrated financial strategy. We will stick to our integrated financial strategy and strive to promote cross-sell in depth. We are dedicated to exploring the application of new technology to our businesses and leading traditional financial services to the next explosive growth phase. Looking into the fourth quarter of 2011, we will strive to maintain the healthy development of all our business segments while laying a solid foundation for the long-term sustainable growth of the company's value."