FWD Group Reports Record Profit for Second Consecutive Year

FWD Group has announced its first full-year financial results since going public, reporting a profit of $166 million for the previous year, marking a record high for the second consecutive year. According to RTHK, the company also recorded positive operating cash flow for two years in a row. Shareholder profit amounted to $104 million, reversing a loss of $78 million from the year before. Post-tax operating profit attributable to shareholders rose by 21% to $440 million, with no dividends declared. Annualized new premiums grew by 25% to $2.45 billion, with the strongest performance in Hong Kong and Macau, where growth reached 51% to $1.21 billion. Japan and emerging markets saw increases of 11% and 27%, respectively, while Thailand and Cambodia experienced a decline of 6%. The value of new business increased by 11% to $950 million, although the new business profit margin fell by 5.1 percentage points to 38.6%. In Hong Kong and Macau, the margin decreased by 1.9 percentage points to 39.6% due to a rise in the risk discount rate, while Japan saw the largest drop of 9.7 percentage points to 64.9%. The new business contract service margin rose by 18% to $1.48 billion, reflecting improved operational leverage and growth in annualized new premiums. By the end of the year, the leverage ratio had decreased to 21.3%, down 4.2 percentage points year-on-year, approaching the target range of 15% to 20%.