AIA, Asia’s largest public life insurance group, posted $3.51 billion of new business in the 12 months preceding November, reports the Financial Times, a 28% increase of the previous year.
The growth has been attributed to performance in AIA’s largest market, Hong Kong, and fasting-growing market, China. In Hong Kong new business grew by 53% to $1.56 billion during this period, in the face of doubts that capital flight restrictions instituted by the Chinese government would handicap sales. In China new sales rose by 85.5% to $828 million.
The new business figures, which are seen as a strong indicator of new years’ sales, has lead AIA group has since increased its final dividend 17 per cent to 74.38 Hong Kong cents per share.