[ET Net News Agency, 22 November 2017] Nomura lifted its target price for PICC P&C
(02328) to HK$19.19 from HK$18.01, and maintained its "buy" rating.
The research house said PICC is a key beneficiary of the regulators' surprise gift, as
one of the key winners of the tightening regulations aimed at controlling the sector-wide
expense ratio since July 2017, due to its unique position as the largest P&C insurer.
Nomura expects the decline in PICC's expense ratio will be more than the increase in its
loss ratio for 2H, implying an improving FY2017 with combined ratio at 96.9% (versus 98.1%
for FY2016). For FY2018 & FY2019, Nomura expects the combined ratio to stabilize at 97.4%.
(KL)