Great Eastern Holdings profit doubled to S$767.5m in 2012

It's a record high performance.

According to a release, Great Eastern Holdings reported profit attributable to shareholders of S$1,189.1 million for the financial year ended 31 December 2012 (“FY-12”).

This included a S$421.6 million post-tax gain from the sale of the Group's shareholdings in Asia Pacific Breweries Limited ("APB") and Fraser and Neave, Limited ("F&N") in Q3-12.

Excluding this gain, net profit in FY-12 doubled to a record high of S$767.5 million. The strong earnings performance was attributed to unrealised mark-to-market investment gains, together with strong growth in underwriting profit and net investment income.

Investment performance was better as markets recovered in 2012 with the narrowing of credit and swap spreads and improvement in equity markets.

For the quarter ended 31 December 2012 (“Q4-12”), net profit increased to S$225.6 million, against S$68.9 million the year before.

In FY-12, the Group registered total weighted new sales of S$836.7 million, an increase of 5% compared with S$798.3 million in FY-11.

Overall sales performance in the year was the result of increased demand for regular premium products, partially offset by the deliberate reduction in the sale of single premium products.

In Q4-12, total weighted new sales registered a healthy increase of 15% to S$262.3 million, as the Group’s introduction of the Live Great value proposition and product offerings tailored for targeted customer segments was well-received.

On a geographical basis, the total weighted new sales increase in Singapore was driven by the sale of regular premium products across all channels.

In particular, the Group’s bancassurance channel recorded strong growth, capitalising on its synergistic relationship with OCBC. In Malaysia, sales remained strong for regular premium investment-linked products across both conventional and takaful operations.

At the same time, aggressive pricing competition continued to dampen the sales of traditional endowment products.

In Indonesia, the Group experienced encouraging growth in bancassurance sales, as it strengthened its strategic collaboration with Bank OCBC NISP.

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