PING AN OF CHINA(601318) 华西证券·2024-10-22 10:03Investment Rating - The investment rating for the company is "Buy" [1] Core Insights - The company reported a significant increase in net profit for the first three quarters of 2024, achieving a net profit attributable to shareholders of 119.18 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 36.1%, with Q3 alone showing a remarkable 151.3% increase [1][2] - The company's new business value (NBV) in life and health insurance reached 35.16 billion yuan for the first three quarters of 2024, up 34.1% year-on-year, with Q3 showing a staggering 110.3% increase [2] - The overall combined ratio (COR) for property and casualty insurance improved to 97.8%, a year-on-year optimization of 1.5 percentage points [2] - The annualized comprehensive investment return rate improved to 5.0%, an increase of 1.3 percentage points year-on-year, benefiting from a recovery in the stock market [3] Financial Summary - For 2024, the company expects operating revenue of 970.9 billion yuan, net profit attributable to shareholders of 130.3 billion yuan, and earnings per share (EPS) of 7.16 yuan [4][6] - The projected operating revenue for 2025 and 2026 is 1,035.9 billion yuan and 1,093.6 billion yuan, respectively, with corresponding net profits of 150.8 billion yuan and 170.0 billion yuan [4][6] - The company's return on equity (ROE) is projected to improve to 13.1% in 2024, 14.0% in 2025, and 14.5% in 2026 [6][8]