Review on 2015 Interim Results of China Listed Insurance Companies

The insurance industry achieved rapid growth in the first half of 2015; the net premiums of six listed insurance companies reached RMB 860.8 billion, an increase of 14.3% as compared to the same period last year. However, the growth ratio decreased by 1% when compared with the same period in 2014.

Benefited by the booming capital market in China, the investment returns of these companies increased significantly in comparison to the first half of 2014. The profit for the period also increased significantly, ranging from an increase of 65.9% to 86.4% as compared to the same period last year. The solvency margin ratio of each company improved as well.

The claims and policyholders’ benefits of the companies for the first half year of 2015 was RMB 354.4 billion, an increase of 15.29% compared with the same period last year, in which total claims from property and casualty insurance increased by 11.75%. The simple averages of loss ratio and combined ratio of the three largest property and casualty insurance companies were 61.13% and 95.9% compared to the same period in 2014 of 61.5% and 96.1%, respectively. The policyholders’ benefits from life insurance increased by 17.65% as compared to the same period last year in which the surrender ratio increased substantially.

This report analyses the performance of six listed insurance companies in the first half year of 2015 with a focus on:

• General market environment
• Life insurance
• Property & casualty insurance
• Investment return analysis
• Rate of return on equity analysis
• Income tax analysis