March 14, 2024 07:37 GMT
AIA Results: China Solid So No Bad News For HSBC, StanChart
FINANCIALS
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AIA Group 4Q23 results (1299 HK) showed a solid performance in China with a lack of bad news, specifically on real estate – this has been a fear for HSBC and Standard Chartered.
- Key credit metrics: underlying free surplus generation was lower in 2H23 but EV (embedded value) equity was stable on Jun-23 (at USD70.2bn). Importantly, there is lots of disclosure around real estate – only 3% of AIA China’s portfolio is in real estate, that business being <25% of the group.
- Operating profit missed consensus by 4% but the VoNB (value of new business) margin was up on the prior quarter (52.6% vs. 51.2%) on positive re-pricing which is giving some underpinning to forward earnings.
- Lateral: there’s nothing meaningfully negative here in China real estate, the key element we wanted to check on, so that’s a “lack of a negative” for HSBC and StanChart.
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