(Reuters) – AIA Group Ltd on Friday launched a $10 billion share buyback plan and declared the next remaining dividend on robust progress in 2021, however warned of near-term ache from a current outbreak of coronavirus infections in Hong Kong.
The Asia-focussed insurer’s worth of latest enterprise or VONB, which measures anticipated revenue from new premiums and is a key gauge for future progress, rose to $3.37 billion for the yr ended Dec. 31, from $2.77 billion a yr earlier.
China and Hong Kong accounted for about half of latest enterprise progress globally. Mainland China enterprise was the highest contributor to VONB, logging a 14% progress, whereas its Hong Kong enterprise jumped 37%, indicating robust restoration from the pandemic-lows.
Higher working circumstances for the Hong Kong-based insurer, which depends on its military of brokers, prompted it to announce the buyback plan unfold over the following three years.
“The share buyback represents capital collected over time that’s surplus to our wants, permitting for capital market stress circumstances and retention of capital for strategic and monetary flexibility,” Group Chief Government Officer Lee Yuan Siong stated.
Nevertheless, the corporate warned that the current outbreak of the Omicron variant, particularly in Hong Kong, is affecting its new enterprise gross sales, notably within the first quarter.
Over the previous few weeks, Hong Kong has seen a few of the most draconian curbs in place to fight a file surge in coronavirus instances and deaths. China has additionally seen an increase of regionally transmitted coronavirus infections lately.
AIA additionally declared a remaining divided of 108 Hong Kong cents per share, 8% greater than final yr, taking the whole 2021 dividend to 146 HK cents apiece.
(Reporting by Selena Li in Hong Kong and Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru; Modifying by Arun Koyyur)
