AIA Singapore saw strong growth in first half of 2014

SINGAPORE - Insurer AIA Singapore reported strong financial results for the first half of 2014, thanks to a productive agency and more long-term savings plans.

Its value of new business for the six months to May 31 was up 15 per cent to US$127 million, compared with the same period a year earlier.

Annualised new premiums, a measure of new business activity, rose 46 per cent to US$214 million from a year ago.

New business margin, or the value of new business as a percentage of annualised new premiums, grew to 59.3 per cent.

The added sales meant that operating profit after tax rose 11 per cent to US$203 million, compared with a year earlier.

In a phone interview from Hong Kong on Jul 25, AIA chief executive Tan Hak Leh said: "We continued to sustain our growth in the first half of 2014, and the robust performance that we achieved is attributed to the increased uptake of long-term savings plans, in addition to our core protection products."

He added that the agency force continued to grow in terms of size and productivity, through extensive recruitment initiatives rolled out by the insurer, as well as enhanced training programmes.

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