AIA delivers excellent results in 1H 2024

The board of AIA Group Limited announced the group’s financial results for the six months ended June 30, 2024. Growth rates are shown on a constant exchange rate basis:

New business performance

•Value of new business (VONB) up 25 percent to a record high of US $ 2,455 million
•Sales up 17 percent to US $ 4,546 million of annualised new premiums
•New business profitability increased with VONB margin up 3.3 pps to 53.9 percent

Embedded value

•Embedded value (EV) operating profit of US $ 5,350 million, up 29 percent per share
•Operating ROEV of 16.5 percent, increased from 12.9 percent in full year 2023
•Positive operating and investment variances in the first half
•EV Equity of US $ 70.9 billion after capital returns to shareholders, up 5 percent per share over the first half

IFRS earnings

•Operating profit after tax (OPAT) of US $ 3,386 million, up 10 percent per share
•Operating ROE of 15.3 percent, up from 13.5 percent in full year 2023
•OPAT per share CAGR target of 9 to 11 percent from 2023 to 2026

Free surplus generation

•Underlying free surplus generation of US $ 3,391 million, up 10 percent per share
•Net free surplus generation of US $ 2,243 million after reinvestment in organic new business
•Shareholder capital ratio of 242 percent on a pro forma basis

Dividend and share buy-backs

•US $ 3.4 billion returned to shareholders in the first half through dividend and share buy-backs
•Additional US $ 2.0 billion to the share buy-back programme announced in April, bringing the total to US $ 12.0 billion
•Interim dividend of 44.50 Hong Kong cents per share, up 5.2 percent

AIA Group Chief Executive and President Lee Yuan Siong said, “AIA has delivered excellent results in the first half of 2024. We have achieved record new business profits, significant earnings growth, strong free surplus generation and returned substantial capital to shareholders. We are also announcing an OPAT per share CAGR target of 9 to 11 percent from 2023 to 2026. Today’s headline figures, with VONB up by 25 percent, are a direct result of AIA’s ability to deliver successive layers of profitable new business that compound over time to sustain growth in earnings and cash generation.”

She added,“In the first six months of 2024, we returned US $ 3.4 billion to shareholders through dividend and share buy-backs. The board announced an increase to our existing share buy-back programme by US $ 2.0 billion in April, bringing the total to US $ 12.0 billion. Today, the board has declared a further 5.2 percent increase in the interim dividend to 44.50 Hong Kong cents per share, reflecting AIA’s very strong financial position and confidence in our future operational and financial delivery.”