Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China and Prudential plc both reported higher first-quarter 2026 (Q1 2026) figures in core life and health metrics, indicating ongoing demand for protection and savings products across Asian markets amid a mixed macroeconomic backdrop. The two groups continue to follow different operating models in the region: Ping An with a domestically focused integrated finance and health platform in mainland China, and Prudential with a multi-market, multi-channel franchise spanning Asia and Africa.
For the three months ended March 31, 2026, Ping An’s operating profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company rose 7.6% year on year to RMB 40.78 billion. Equity attributable to shareholders increased 1.8% from the beginning of the year to RMB 1.02 trillion, and total assets were about RMB 14.17 trillion at quarter end. Life and health insurance remained a primary earnings driver. First-year premiums reached RMB 66.34 billion, up 45.5% from the first quarter of 2025. New business value (NBV) from the life and health segment increased 20.8% year on year to RMB 15.57 billion. Bancassurance, community finance, and other channels accounted for a larger portion of Ping An Life’s NBV, with their contribution rising by 6.8 percentage points compared with the prior-year period.
Ping An continued to apply its integrated finance approach across protection, wealth, credit, and service products. As of March 31, 2026, the group had nearly 252 million retail customers, an increase of 0.2% since the start of the year, with an average of 2.94 contracts per customer. Among customers holding products across three or more product lines, the 12‑month retention rate was 99%. In property and casualty, Ping An P&C recorded premium income of RMB 90.95 billion in the quarter, up 6.8% year on year. Non-auto business generated premiums of RMB 37.51 billion, an increase of 19.5%. Insurance revenue rose 3.9% to RMB 84.33 billion. The combined ratio improved by 0.8 percentage points to 95.8%. Premium income from new energy vehicle insurance grew 16.1% compared with the same period a year earlier. Ping An Bank reported first-quarter revenue of RMB 35.28 billion, an increase of 4.7% year on year, and net profit of RMB 14.52 billion, up 3.0%. The non-performing loan ratio was 1.05% at March 31, 2026, and the provision coverage ratio stood at 219.59%.
The group continued to link its insurance and financial operations with health and senior care offerings. Health insurance premium income in the first quarter exceeded RMB 47.3 billion, including RMB 24.35 billion of medical insurance premium income, 6.4% higher than in the same period of 2025. First-year premiums per new policyholder increased across health care, home-based senior care, and premium senior care customer segments.
Ping An reported further build-out of a service framework that spans online, in-hospital, at-home, and corporate settings. By the end of March, more than 290,000 customers were entitled to home-based senior care services, up about 50,000 from the start of the year. Its health and senior care services covered 165,000 paying corporate clients. The QR code payment service for pharmacy purchases by members of corporate health management programs covered 111,000 pharmacies nationwide.
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On the technology side, the group said it expanded the use of artificial intelligence under its “AI in ALL” initiative. AI-enabled review and processing accounted for 84% of business volume in the first quarter, and AI service representatives handled 82% of customer service interactions, or around 487 million service episodes. Ping An said AI-enabled agents contributed RMB 30.44 billion of sales, while smart fraud-detection tools at Ping An P&C generated claims savings of RMB 3.65 billion, up 6.7% year on year. Ping An also reported that its “Medical Large Model 3.5” achieved the highest global score on the HealthBench Hard benchmark and that its financial large model ranked first on the CNFinBench leaderboard. The group indicated that these models are being used to support underwriting, claims processing and customer servicing.
Prudential, which concentrates on Asia and Africa after previous restructuring moves, reported growth in new business profit and APE sales on a constant exchange rate basis for the three months ended March 31, 2026. New business profit increased 10% year on year to $686 million. Annual premium equivalent (APE) new business sales rose 6% to $1.823 billion. The new business margin expanded by 2 percentage points to 38%.
“In the first three months of 2026, we once again demonstrated our continued delivery of double-digit new business profit growth. Performance was broad-based across segments, with higher APE sales and improved new business margins, reflecting our disciplined execution and continued focus on driving high-quality growth. The quarter reinforced the strength of our multi-channel, multi-market business model, with resilient performance despite ongoing market volatility and geopolitical uncertainty,” said Prudential CEO Anil Wadhwani.
Prudential reported double-digit new business profit growth in Hong Kong, mainland China, and Malaysia. In Hong Kong, both agency and bancassurance channels contributed to higher new business profit and margin expansion, supported by a greater share of health and protection APE sales and repricing actions. In mainland China, its joint venture CITIC Prudential Life maintained the APE sales momentum seen in the second half of 2025. A shift toward participating business as the portfolio is adjusted has led to a moderation in margins.
In Malaysia, new business profit growth was driven mainly by the agency channel, while bancassurance volumes were lower but generated higher margins following product changes. Indonesia recorded modest growth in new business profit after a strong prior-year quarter, with double-digit growth in bancassurance through the partnership with Bank Syariah Indonesia and a continued focus on recruitment quality in the agency channel.
Singapore saw higher APE sales, particularly via agency distribution and demand for savings and wealth products. The resulting product mix reduced margins, leading to more moderate growth in new business profit. In Prudential’s “Growth markets and other” segment, Thailand and associate ICICI Prudential Life in India were notable contributors, while Taiwan’s performance eased after strong recent growth.
Prudential also continued share repurchases under its capital framework. In January 2026, it launched a $1.2 billion buyback to be carried out over the year, including $500 million of recurring capital returns and $700 million funded by net proceeds from the initial public offering of ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company. In the first quarter, the group repurchased around 20 million shares for a total consideration of $312 million. “Through disciplined value creation, continued strengthening of our distribution, and a focus on enhancing customer experience we are well positioned to capture structural growth opportunities across Asia and Africa. We remain confident in delivering double-digit growth across our key financial metrics in 2026 and achieving our 2027 financial objectives,” Wadhwani said.
