CHINA TAIPING (00966) reported a 90.3% increase in net profit attributable to the parent company for the first half of the year: value transformation improves quality, investment recovery and ecological synergy create growth opportunities.

On August 26, CHINA TAIPING (00966) held its 2026 interim performance press conference in Hong Kong. During the performance period, CHINA TAIPING achieved a profit attributable to shareholders of HKD 12.873 billion, a year-on-year increase of 90.3%; insurance service revenue was HKD 58.926 billion, up 5.3% year-on-year; and insurance service performance was HKD 12.876 billion, up 4.5% year-on-year. By the end of June, the groups total assets exceeded HKD 2.1 trillion, and the equity attributable to common shareholders reached HKD 103.638 billion, representing increases of 9.1% and 8.9% respectively compared to the end of last year. From the perspective of the core operating framework of the insurance company, the performance this period has not only been driven by investment income: the contract service margin reached HKD 231.419 billion, up 6.8% from the end of last year; the total embedded value per share attributable to shareholders rose to HKD 63.33, an increase of 8.6%. Investment repairs have released profit elasticity, and the simultaneous enhancement of insurance service performance, long-term value reserves, and capital strength has formed the foundation for sustained performance. I. Life Insurance Value Transformation Enters "Quantity and Quality Advance" Stage Life insurance remains the most important source of profit and value for CHINA TAIPING. In the first half of the year, life insurance business insurance service revenue reached HKD 33.951 billion, a year-on-year increase of 5.3%; insurance service performance was HKD 11.593 billion, up 6.0% year-on-year; post-tax profit was HKD 16.682 billion, an increase of 101.5% year-on-year. Improved investment returns contributed to profit elasticity, and the continuous growth in insurance service performance indicates robust core business operations. According to RMB standards, Taiping Lifes original premium income grew by 2.0% year-on-year, new policy premiums increased by 10.6%, and the new business value reached RMB 6.268 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of 1.4%. In the context of the industry shifting towards value-oriented operations, maintaining positive growth in new business value is particularly important. Management has clearly stated that the transitional impact of dividend insurance transformation on new business value rates and growth is a proactive choice based on asset-liability matching and a long-term security cushion; sensitivity of new business value to adverse changes in interest rates and equity markets has been decreasing, and the businesss ability to withstand volatility is improving. The transformation of the product structure is also progressing from a singular focus to a balanced approach. The proportion of dividend insurance in the first year's premium income for long-term insurance reached 97.8%, an increase of 10.7 percentage points compared to the previous year; at the same time, the management disclosed that the company is promoting product diversification, term structure diversification, and refined interest rate management, launching 71 products in the first half of the year. The proportion of enhanced whole life insurance products decreased by 7.2 percentage points year-on-year, while the proportion of annuity insurance increased by 7.6 percentage points, and the proportion of three-year products decreased. The optimization of the combination of long-duration, short premium payment, and annuity products helps improve liability duration and yield matching while meeting customer needs. The team transformation also shows quality improvement. Taiping Life is advancing the "four modernizations" of its team around youthfulness, professionalism, occupation, and performance optimization. The average age of the team has been optimized compared to the previous year, and the activity rate has increased by 8.9 percentage points, with the monthly per capita productivity of active manpower growing by 18.3% year-on-year; as of the end of June, the number of individual agents reached 172,000, an increase of 5,299 from the end of last year, with individual agents' 13-month and 25-month premium continuation rates at 98.9% and 98.5%, respectively. The life insurance contract service margin reached HKD 230.71 billion, providing a strong reserve for future profit release. In response to market concerns regarding actuarial assumptions, the company emphasizes balancing risk appetite, industry comparability, and annual continuity, assessing and optimizing appropriately under the premise of stability and prudence. Such arrangements help avoid short-term indicator fluctuations overshadowing long-term value and leave room for future value release. II. Integrated Insurance Reporting, Pension Finance, and Technology Empowerment to Reshape Growth Model At the press conference, management viewed "integrated insurance reporting" as an important opportunity for promoting high-quality development in the industry. Its impact is not just cost constraints, but also facilitates the shift of the industry from competing on costs and scale to prioritizing service and efficiency. CHINA TAIPING combines policy requirements with its own transformation to expand the supply of protective and long-term products, enhance the professional service capabilities of its sales team, and improve customer experience through technology and operational system upgrades, thereby reducing reliance on front-end cost inputs. Pension finance is becoming a point of synergy for products, services, and ecosystems. The group has formed a triadic service layout of large institutional elderly care, urban residential elderly care, and home elderly care, with five self-built high-end elderly care communities operating steadily. Taiping Life started a home elderly care pilot in the first half of this year. By the end of the first half, the second pillar annuity management asset balance was approximately RMB 767 billion, the total premium for third pillar commercial insurance annuities was about RMB 23 billion, and the year-end asset management balance of commercial pensions was approximately RMB 26.3 billion; nearly 3,000 elderly residents had moved into self-built elderly care communities, serving over 1,300 elder residents with Hong Kong citizenship. The linkage of insurance, medical care, and wellness resources is forming stronger customer stickiness. Digital construction is accelerating its evolution from "tool application" to operational empowerment. The group continues to promote the "1+1+4" artificial intelligence ecosystem construction, expediting the application of intelligent solutions in business, operations, risk control, and other areas. Taiping Life is advancing smart services for medical insurance, and Taiping Property & Casualty has launched AI image loss adjustment for auto insurance claims. In the face of extreme weather, Taiping Property & Casualty has prioritized disaster prevention and reduction. As of August 24, over 60,000 risk projects have been screened, with over 610,000 warning messages sent, realizing loss reduction of approximately RMB 70 million; non-auto insurance claims were completed in as little as 12 minutes and 11 seconds, with claims of RMB 150 million paid to 13,000 customers, further enhancing operational resilience through the integration of risk management and customer service. III. Investment Repairs Release Elasticity, Underwriting and Capital Base Maintain Stability The investment segment has been a direct catalyst for the significant profit growth this period. In the first half of the year, the group achieved total investment income of HKD 47.952 billion, a year-on-year increase of 120.5%; net investment income was HKD 26.215 billion, up 3.7% year-on-year; the annualized total investment return rate rose to 5.21%, an increase of 2.53 percentage points compared to the same period last year. While total income has significantly improved, net investment income continues to grow, indicating that income improvement is not entirely reliant on short-term valuation fluctuations. The investment portfolio continues to reflect the characteristics of long-term capital. Fixed income assets accounted for 80.2%, equity investments 18.9%; onshore FVPL secondary market equity investment returns reached 14.5%, outperforming the CSI 300 total return index by 5.9 percentage points. Management disclosed that the group will continue to strengthen stable allocation of major asset classes, fine matching of separate accounts, and differentiated assessments, maintaining a "dividend plus technology" barbell strategy in equity investments. While solidifying earnings foundations through dividend assets, attention is given to strategic emerging industries such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, high-end equipment, and new energy. On the underwriting side, diverse support remains intact. Taiping Property & Casualty maintained a combined cost ratio of 98.0% in the first half of the year, achieving underwriting profitability despite increasing extreme weather and payout rates; overseas property and casualty insurance post-tax profits grew by 40.8%, with Taiping Hong Kong, Taiping Macau, Taiping Singapore, and Taiping Indonesia showing combined cost ratios of 90.8%, 83.4%, 90.0%, and 95.0%, respectively. The reinsurance business saw a 9.6% increase in insurance service revenue and a 43.7% increase in insurance service performance, with a combined cost ratio of 96.2%, further demonstrating professional reinsurance capability. Asset management has become a new stabilizing factor. In the first half of the year, management fee revenue grew by 12.2%, and post-tax profits soared by 166.2%; the scale of insurance funds managed within the group grew by 11.4%, while third-party managed assets increased by 3.7%. At the same time, the solvency adequacy ratios of Taiping Life, Taiping Property & Casualty, and Taiping Pension were 215%, 240%, and 212%, respectively, and the group's overall financial leverage ratio declined from 23.2% to 21.9%, with capital safety margins continuing to be maintained. Entering the first year of the "14th Five-Year Plan," CHINA TAIPING aims to build the most valuable growth and world-class insurance group trusted by customers and has listed five objectives encompassing value creation, functionality, customer trust, digital construction, and risk control compliance. Leveraging the three major ecosystems of health care, fintech, and shared services, the chain of insurance protection + customer service + technology empowerment is being streamlined. The management team reaffirmed their commitment to maintaining a long-term sustainable dividend policy that shares development results with shareholders while meeting regulatory and capital adequacy requirements. Overall, CHINA TAIPING established multiple supports in the first half of the year, marked by steady core insurance operations, investment income recovery, cumulative long-term value, and sufficient capital safety. Short-term profits will still be affected by market fluctuations, but core indicators such as new business value in life insurance, contract service margin, combined cost ratio in property insurance, third-party asset management scale, and solvency have collectively outlined a clear path for the company from growth in scale to growth in quality and from single product to comprehensive ecosystem.