On April 17, New China Insurance released an announcement on premium income for the first quarter of 2024. So far, the premium income of the five A-share listed insurance companies in the first quarter of 2024 has been announced.
In the first quarter of 2024, Chinese Life, Ping An of China, Chinese People's Insurance Company, China Pacific Insurance and Xinhua Insurance achieved a total premium income of about 1.07 trillion yuan, a slight increase of 0.96% over the same period last year. Among them, the premium income of life insurance companies continued to be under pressure, while the premium income of property insurance companies continued to grow, and the growth performance of health insurance companies was particularly bright.
Guotai Junan's non-bank financial team said that in the first quarter of 2024, the supply and demand of individual insurance and bancassurance channels of life insurance companies will resonate, which is expected to promote the rapid growth of new business value of listed insurance companies, and it is expected that the comprehensive cost ratio of property insurance companies will increase slightly year-on-year in the first quarter.
Premiums edged up to RMB1.07 trillion
In the first quarter of 2024, the five listed insurance companies achieved a total premium income of 1,066.423 billion yuan, a slight increase of 0.96% year-on-year.
Specifically, in the first quarter of 2024, Ping An Group of China achieved a cumulative premium income of 264.422 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1.6%; Chinese Insurance (Group) achieved a premium income of 253.031 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1.3%; and China Pacific Insurance Group achieved a premium income of 154.177 billion yuan, a slight decrease of 0.18% year-on-year.
The premium growth rate of the other two listed insurance companies, which are mainly life insurance, is divided into two levels. In the first quarter of 2024, Chinese Life achieved a cumulative premium income of 337.6 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.2%, the highest growth rate of insurance companies, and Xinhua Insurance achieved a cumulative premium income of 57.193 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 11.7%, making it the insurance company with the largest premium decline.
Guotai Junan's non-bank financial team said that under the high base, the investment side of the five major listed insurance companies has a slight pressure, and it is expected that the net profit attributable to the parent company of listed insurance companies in the first quarter of this year will be slightly under pressure. Among them, the net profit of China Pacific Insurance, Ping An of China, Xinhua Insurance, Chinese Insurance and Chinese Life is expected to decline by 5.8%, 10.1%, 13.2%, 14.6% and 16.6% respectively.
Life insurance "three downs and two ups"
Let's start with the performance of life insurance companies. In the first quarter of 2024, the five life insurance companies achieved a total premium income of 714.299 billion yuan, a slight decrease of 0.8% year-on-year, continuing to be under pressure, showing the characteristics of "three declines and two rises".
Specifically, Chinese Life achieved a cumulative premium income of 337.6 billion yuan in the first quarter of this year, a year-on-year increase of 3.2%; Ping An Life achieved a cumulative premium income of 173.302 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 0.9%. The premium growth rate of the other three companies all declined to varying degrees, with CPIC Life achieving a cumulative premium income of 91.686 billion yuan, down 5.4% year-on-year, Xinhua Insurance achieving a cumulative premium income of 57.193 billion yuan, down 11.7% year-on-year, and PICC Life achieving a cumulative premium income of 54.518 billion yuan, down 8.2% year-on-year.
In the announcement, Xinhua Insurance also pointed out that the company's operation was stable, with a significant month-on-month increase in premium income in March, an increase in the business scale and value of individual insurance channels, and a good optimization and improvement in the premium income structure. In the first quarter, the company's business strategy focused on value growth and optimization of business structure, and the year-on-year decline in cumulative primary insurance premium income narrowed.
According to the analysis of Guotai Junan's non-bank financial team, in the first quarter of this year, the individual insurance team of life insurance declined slightly, while the strong savings demand of customers and the continuous increase in per capita production capacity under the high-quality transformation of channels are expected to promote the rapid growth of new orders. In terms of bancassurance, under the "integration of newspapers and banks", it is expected that new orders in the bancassurance channel will be under pressure in the short term, and the significant improvement in the expense ratio will help promote a significant increase in the value rate.
Among the two professional health insurance companies, PICC Health achieved a cumulative premium income of 24.536 billion yuan in the first quarter of this year, a year-on-year increase of 8.2%, and Ping An Health Insurance achieved a cumulative premium income of 5.273 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10.7%.
Property and casualty insurance continued to grow
Let's look at the performance of property insurance companies. On the whole, the property insurance business of the "old three" continued to grow, with a total premium income of 315.544 billion yuan in the first quarter of this year, a year-on-year increase of 4.4%.
Specifically, in the first quarter, PICC property insurance achieved a total premium income of 173.977 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 3.8%, Ping An property insurance achieved a premium income of 79.076 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2.8%, the lowest growth rate, and CPIC property insurance achieved a premium income of 62.491 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.6%, and the growth rate continued to lead. Guosen Securities analysis pointed out that the reason for the stabilization of premium income of property insurance business was mainly affected by the holiday effect and consumption increase in the first quarter.
"With the resumption of car travel and the impact of disasters such as low temperature and freezing rain, the loss ratio is expected to increase in the first quarter. Guotai Junan's non-bank financial team also expects that the comprehensive cost ratio of property insurance will increase slightly year-on-year in the first quarter of this year. In addition, under the influence of the strict implementation of the "integration of newspapers and banks" by leading insurance companies and the decline in automobile sales, the growth of property insurance premiums in the first quarter remained under pressure.
(The charts in the article are all made by Luo Gemei)
Reporter: Sister Luo Ge