China's Ping An Insurance (601318.SS) reported a better-than-expected 36% year-on-year rise in first-half net profit on Thursday, as buoyant capital markets boosted earnings from its asset management business.
The insurance company posted net profit of 92.585 billion yuan ($13.78 billion) for the six months ended June 30, above analysts' mean estimate of 85.528 billion yuan, according to data from LSEG.
Operating profit, which strips out short-term investment volatility and one-time items, grew 8.3% year-on-year to 84.196 billion yuan, according to a stock exchange filing.
Operating profit of asset management surged 236.8% year-on-year to 9.172 billion yuan, while life and health insurance business rose 0.9% and property and casualty insurance business fell 12.4%.
A rally in China's mainland share market boosted insurers' asset management income, lifting asset management fees as well as investment gains from equity portfolios.
The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 3.2% in the first half of this year, while China's tech-heavy boards ranked among the world's best performers, with the STAR 50 Index gaining more than 64%.
The group's Ping An Securities business achieved its best-ever half-yearly net profit of 4.011 billion yuan, up 31.5% year on year in the first half of 2026.
Ping An's total investment income rose 8% to 6.469 billion yuan, the filing showed.
New business value (NBV) in its life and health insurance segment, which measures the profitability of new policies sold, grew 11.2% to 24.847 billion yuan.
Growth in new policy sales has been underpinned by demand for higher-yielding savings products amid a prolonged low-interest-rate environment, which has made insurers' long-dated savings offerings more attractive than bank deposits.
That demand could be further boosted by a levy on offshore policy gains, which analysts say may erode the appeal of Hong Kong products and redirect flows toward domestic alternatives, benefiting mainland Chinese insurers.
The number of retail customers rose 0.9% to 253 million by end-June from the beginning of this year, the filing showed.
Banking unit Ping An Bank (000001.SZ) last week reported its net profit in the first half of this year rose 3.3% year-on-year.
($1 = 6.7211 Chinese yuan renminbi)
