China Taiping’s local written premiums up 7.3 pct in 2015

China Taiping Insurance (Macau) Company Ltd. posted a year-on-year increase of 7.3 per cent in its direct premiums written for 2015, according to the annual report released on Monday by its parent company China Taiping Insurance Holdings Company Ltd.
Last year, the local branch of the Hong Kong-listed insurer registered HK$587.9 million (US$73.2 million) in direct premiums written, whilst underwriting profit from the premiums jumped by 12 per cent year-on-year to HK$70.2 million compared to HK$62.6 million in 2014.
In addition, the Mainland Chinese company’s operational profit derived from the Special Administrative Region increased by 7.2 per cent year-on-year to HK$92.9 million from HK$86.7 million in 2014.
According to official data of the Monetary Authority of Macau (AMCM), China Taiping’s business in Macau primarily focuses on the non-life insurance market. The data indicated that the company led the local sector by achieving total gross premiums of MOP605.2 million for 2015, accounting for 29 per cent of the sector total.
‘Macau will be well-positioned to consolidate local business and strengthen the market linkage between domestic and overseas business. In addition, it will proactively explore new business lines to ensure the business growth and its leading position in the market,’ the company noted in its annual report.
For 2015, China Taiping generated a total of HK$6.34 billion in net profit, which represents a year-on-year jump of 56.9 per cent compared to 2014.
According to the report, the company’s total premiums reached HK$138.4 billion, up 24 per cent year-on-year. Meanwhile, the company’s life insurance new business value had also significantly increased by 39.1 per cent year-on-year to HK$6 billion.