Bank of America Securities: Maintains "buy" rating on AIA (01299) with a target price of HKD 92.2.

Bank of America Securities released a research report stating that it maintains a "buy" rating on AIA (01299) with a target price of HK$92.2. The bank expects AIA's new business value profit margin under AIA China to reach 56% in 2024 and 55% in 2025, higher than the 51% in 2023. In addition to benefiting from lower bancassurance costs and guaranteed interest rates, the bank believes strong growth in AIA China's pension insurance sales is the main driver. The report states that according to domestic media reports, AIA China's first-year pension premium income exceeded RMB 2.4 billion from January to October 2024, ranking first in the industry. Although AIA China may not maintain its sales ranking for long compared to larger insurance companies with a larger agent team, the bank believes AIA can maintain competitiveness among high-end customers and that pension products can drive its new business value growth in 2025.