Great Eastern Posted 26% Growth Profit

Great Eastern posted a 26 per cent year-on-year increase in profit to $306.7 million for the first quarter ended March, versus $244 million in the same period the year before. This was driven by higher profit from the insurance business as well as favorable investment performance in the group’s shareholders’ fund, said the insurance arm of OCBC on April 29.

Profit from Great Eastern’s insurance business was up 4 per cent year on year to $236.3 million, which was attributed to a stable contract service margin release, as well as higher profit from general insurance.

Profit from the shareholders’ fund rose 245 per cent to $76 million mainly due to higher fee income, interest and dividend income – as well as mark-to-market gains in equities, collective investment schemes and derivatives.

Total weighted new sales rose 34 per cent on the year to $524.2 million from $390.9 million in Q1 FY2023, as growth across the group’s operations in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia was driven by core distribution channels across these markets.

New embedded business value – a measure of the long-term profitability of new sales – grew 21 per cent to $163.2 million from $135.4 million. Capital adequacy ratios of its insurance subsidiaries for the quarter were “strong and well above their respective minimum regulatory levels.

Shares of Great Eastern closed 9 cents, or 0.48 per cent, higher at $18.78 on April 29. While this marked the counter’s highest point in the year to date, the latest closing price remains about 40 per cent below April 2018 levels when Great Eastern was trading above $31 apiece.