Ping An Insurance to Push On With Share Buyback Plan to Buoy Investor Confidence
Yang Qianwen
DATE:  Aug 17 2019
/ SOURCE:  yicai
Ping An Insurance to Push On With Share Buyback Plan to Buoy Investor Confidence Ping An Insurance to Push On With Share Buyback Plan to Buoy Investor Confidence

(Yicai Global) Aug. 16 -- Ping An Insurance, which just reported a 68 percent surge in first-half net profit, will continue to repurchase more of its own shares at prices judged below market value in a bid to boost investor confidence, according to a senior executive.

"We'll decide how much more we'll buy based on market conditions and our own motivation," General Manager Ren Huichuan told Yicai Global today. "Our repurchase price was between CNY79 [USD11.21] and CNY90 in the first half and is likely to be similar in the second half."

The Shenzhen-based company, one of China's biggest financial conglomerates, announced last October that it would use between CNY5 billion (USD710 million) and CNY10 billion of its own funds to buy back shares starting on April 29 this year and ending a year later.

As of July 31, the firm had repurchased 0.31 percent of its mainland-listed stock at prices ranging from CNY79.85 to CNY91.43, reaching the declared minimum spending amount of CNY5 billion.

Shares in the insurer [SHA:601318] rose 1.3 percent today to end the week at CNY87.46 (USD12.42) each. Ping An's stock has gained 56 percent so far this year.

"No one is sure whether it is the repurchase of shares that has pushed the stock price up," Ren said. "But generally speaking, our stock price gains this year are ahead of our peers." The increase can also be attributed to the company's solid first-half earnings performance, he added.

Ping An Insurance's net profit was CNY98 billion for the first six months of this year, the company said in an interim earnings report published yesterday, thanks to its strong retail business. Revenue rose 19 percent to CNY639 billion.

Ping An has been hiking its cash dividends thanks to rapid profit growth. The firm plans to pay an interim dividend of CNY0.75 (USD0.11) per share, up an annual 21 percent, in a total distribution of CNY13.7 billion. It is one of the few blue chips that will yield high dividends and strong growth certainty, according to Guotai Junan Securities.

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Keywords:   Ping An Insurance