AIA Group: 2025 After-Tax Operating Profit of $7.136 Billion, Earnings Per Share Up 12%

On March 19, AIA Group announced its full-year 2025 results. The company achieved a record high in 2025, with new business value increasing by 15% year-over-year to a record $5.516 billion, driven by double-digit growth in most markets. Embedded value operating profit was $10.887 billion, up 13% per share, mainly supported by growth in new business value and positive operating variances. As of December 31, 2025, before returning $4.706 billion to shareholders, embedded value equity grew by 18% to $84.384 billion. After deducting these items, embedded value equity stood at $79.678 billion, up 14% per share. The embedded value operating return increased by 90 basis points to 15.8% in 2025.

Net free surplus generated per share grew by 14% to $4.451 billion. The board recommended an increased final dividend of 10% per share, bringing the total annual dividend for 2025 to 193.08 Hong Kong cents per share. The board also approved a new share repurchase program of $1.743 billion, in line with the group’s capital management policy. This includes $743 million, representing 75% of the net free surplus for the year (after deducting approximately $259.6 million in dividends for 2025), and an additional $1 billion after a regular review of the group’s capital position. Therefore, total shareholder returns amounted to $4.339 billion.

The after-tax operating profit, a key measure of the group’s operational profitability, reached a record high of $7.136 billion in 2025, up 12% per share. The growth in after-tax operating profit, combined with disciplined capital management, led to a 70 basis point increase in the annual return on shareholder equity to a new high of 15.5%.

In 2025, the insurance services business grew by 18% to $6.772 billion, accounting for 80% of pre-tax operating profit. Net investment income after expenses was $3.133 billion, down $167 million from 2024, mainly due to further share repurchases reducing investment returns on surplus assets, as well as lower interest rates in Mainland China and the US. Adjusted for these factors, net investment income after expenses increased by 4%.

AIA Hong Kong achieved outstanding growth in new business in 2025, with new business value rising 28% to $2.256 billion, driven by a 21% increase in local customer growth and a 35% increase in Mainland Chinese visitor customers. The market-leading “Best Agent” program contributed to a 26% increase in new business value, supported by an increase in active agents and productivity improvements. The partner distribution channel saw a 46% growth in new business value, with both bancassurance and intermediary channels expanding. The launch of a new flagship product boosted the new business value profit margin by 3.0 percentage points to 68.5%.

In 2025, AIA maintained a solid performance in Mainland China, with accelerated growth in the second half, up 14% year-over-year, and over 20% growth in the first two months of 2026. After accounting for economic assumption changes, full-year new business value grew by 2% to $1.24 billion. The “Best Agent” program accounted for 85% of new business value. The agency force continued to grow, with new agent onboarding increasing by 14% and active agents rising by 8%. The remaining 15% of new business value was contributed by bancassurance, benefiting from selected bank partnerships that increased policy premiums.

In August 2025, AIA announced an ambitious goal to achieve a 40% compound annual growth rate in new business value across new regions from 2025 to 2030. In 2025, new business value in nine new regions (Tianjin, Hebei, Sichuan, Hubei, Henan, Anhui, Shandong, Chongqing, and Zhejiang) grew 45% to $118 million.

(AIA Group)

(Edited by: Qian Xiaorui)

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