EBSCN·2024-09-01 09:31Investment Rating - The investment rating for the company is "Buy" for both A-shares and H-shares, maintained at current prices of 29.64 RMB and 20.35 HKD respectively [1]. Core Insights - The company has demonstrated strong growth in new business value (NBV) and significant improvement in profit growth, with a 37.1% year-on-year increase in net profit for the first half of 2024 [9]. - The company is focusing on a multi-channel strategy and enhancing its value contribution capabilities, which is expected to support stable growth in NBV [9]. Financial Performance - In the first half of 2024, the company reported operating revenue of 1946.3 billion RMB, a year-on-year increase of 10.9%, and a net profit attributable to shareholders of 251.3 billion RMB, up 37.1% [9]. - The weighted average return on equity (ROE) was 9.5%, an increase of 1.9 percentage points year-on-year [9]. - The new business value reached 90.4 billion RMB, reflecting a year-on-year growth of 22.8% [9]. Business Segments Life Insurance - The core workforce has stabilized, with a monthly average of 18.3 million insurance agents, a decrease of 16.4% year-on-year, but the core workforce increased by 0.8% [7]. - The company achieved a scale premium of 1701.1 billion RMB, a slight increase of 0.3% year-on-year, supported mainly by renewal business [7]. Property Insurance - The company reported property insurance premium income of 1118.0 billion RMB, a year-on-year increase of 7.8% [8]. - The combined ratio improved by 0.8 percentage points to 97.1%, indicating better cost management and business quality [8]. Investment Returns - The net investment yield (non-annualized) decreased by 0.2 percentage points to 1.8%, while the total investment yield (non-annualized) increased by 0.7 percentage points to 2.7% [9]. - The comprehensive investment yield (non-annualized) rose by 0.9 percentage points to 3.0% [9]. Future Outlook - The company is expected to maintain good growth in NBV, supported by the ongoing transformation and enhancement of its core capabilities [9]. - Profit forecasts for 2024-2026 have been adjusted upwards to 388 billion RMB, 417 billion RMB, and 460 billion RMB respectively [9].