AIA new business value up 26% in Q1

Sales to China buoyed the insurer's profitability and may soon become its biggest market.

AIA Group opened the year on strong financial footing as the value of its new business rose 26% YoY in Q1 which represents a five-fold surge since 2010, according to Bloomberg.

Growth in China’s insurance market was able to offset declining sales in Hong Kong as the country’s business profitability expanded 12-fold from 2010 to 2017.

In fact, analysts believe that the Mainland is set to outpace Hong Kong as the insurance giant’s biggest market by new business value in three to five years.

Also read: China's insurers remain flush with money

The measure of estimated future profitability of new policies grew to $1.02b in the three months ended March 31. Annualised new premiums rose 4% and new business margin widened 10.5 percentage points to 59.7% as the company turned to more profitable protection-type policies.

Here’s more from Bloomberg.