[ET Net News Agency, 30 August 2019] UBS Global Research lowered its target price for
New China Life Insurance (NCI)(01336) to HK$43.8 from HK$47.4 and maintained its "buy"
rating.
The research house said NCI's new business value (NBV) decline of 9%, missing UBS's
expectation, despite 7% first-year premium (FYP) growth. The miss was mainly due to margin
shrinking by 8pt.
UBS continues to see margin pressure for NCI in the 2H as it expects NCI's newly
launched products to generate a lower margin. UBS cut its 2019-20 NBV growth forecast by
3-5pt (implying 2H growth of 6%). (KL)