ZhongAn Online P&C Insurance posted a profit of RMB94.5 million yuan (US$13.2 million) for the first half of 2019, marking the first time it has turned a profit since it went public in Hong Kong in 2017.
The tech-focused insurer, which focuses mainly on lifestyle consumption, motor, and consumer finance, had a gross written premium of RMB5.89 billion (US$820 million), up 14.5% year-on-year, a report by Shine News said.
According to ZhongAn, its profitable showing in the first half was due to its efforts to optimise its business portfolio and increasing efficiency in the business. The underwriting loss for the first six months decreased to around RMB492.2 million (US$68.7 million), or 43% lower year-on-year.
Meanwhile, its combined ratio improved by 15.7 percentage points to 108.3%.
The insurer served around 348 million customers during the reporting period, the majority (58%) of which were under 35 years old.
ZhongAn said it will continue its focus on the insurance technology (insurtech) segment, which brought in revenue of RMB104.6 million (US$14.6 million). In the past few months, it has entered agreements with several overseas partners in the Asia-Pacific region, such as Sompo, NTUC Income, and Grab.
