Hong Kong-headquartered AIA reported a VONB of US$2.55 billion for the nine months ended Sept. 30, up 15% year over year. Its VONB margin grew by 5.1 percentage points. Total weighted premium income increased by 3% to US$27,463 million.
AIA Group CEO Lee Yuan Siong said that the insurer’s VONB has now exceeded the pre-pandemic level of the first nine months of 2019. However, this excludes Hong Kong, where sales to mainland Chinese visitors remain extremely limited due to COVID-19 travel restrictions still in place.
“In mainland China, we are making good progress growing our Premier Agency in our new cities, and I am delighted that AIA China has recently received regulatory approval to commence operations in Wuhan, Hubei,” Lee said. “I am also encouraged by the early positive results from our new bancassurance partnership with The Bank of East Asia in mainland China and Hong Kong. Across the group, we are leveraging the power of technology, digital and analytics to enable the execution of our strategic priorities and further extend our competitive advantages. While the pandemic continues to disrupt some of our markets, AIA’s performance demonstrates the benefits of our diversification across Asia and the resilience of our business model that has been enhanced by technology.”
AIA noted that despite strong global economic recovery in 2021, ongoing effects of the pandemic, such as new surges of infections, have slowed the pace of growth in the third quarter. The company said it is expecting disruption from pandemic restrictions and increased claims in some of its markets, especially those where vaccination levels are low.
“Despite near-term uncertainty, we are confident that the execution of our strategic priorities will build on our strong track record of growth and generate long-term shareholder value,” the company said.
