AIA (01299) announced annual performance, with the new business value increasing by 15% year-on-year to 5.516 billion US dollars.

AIA (01299) published its annual performance ending December 31, 2025, and growth rates are shown based on fixed exchange rates: New business value increased by 15% to $5.516 billion; post-tax operating profit was $7.136 billion, an increase of 12% per share; shareholder return on equity operating profit reached 15.5%, an increase of 70 basis points; final dividend increased by 10% to $0.14408 per share. The Group is focused on high-quality, sustainable new business growth, driving new business value to a record high of $5.516 billion in 2025, a 15% increase. 91% of the new business value is contributed by protection and fee-based insurance products with no or low investment return guarantees. The strong growth of new business value is driven by double-digit growth in most of the Group's markets. In 2025, the Group's exclusive agency channel achieved a 13% growth in new business value, driven by an increase in active agents, improved agent productivity, and a profitable product mix. Partner distribution saw a 22% growth in new business value, with strong double-digit growth in both bank insurance and intermediary partner distribution channels. Annualized new premiums increased by 9% to $9.484 billion. The profit margin for new business value was 58.5%, up 3.6 percentage points from 2024, driven by positive shifts in product mix in Thailand and Hong Kong and repricing of mainland China products. The profit margin for new business value in mainland China remained relatively stable compared to 2024, as the impact of repricing was partially offset by a shift towards dividend products. Lee Yuan Xiang, CEO and President of AIA Group, said, "AIA achieved record performance in 2025, with double-digit growth in key financial indicators such as new business value, profit, and cash flow. With a broad foundation for growth, new business value rose by 15%, clearly demonstrating the strength and diversification of our business. Excluding dividends and share buybacks, the intrinsic value per share rose significantly by 14% to $79.7 billion. We are implementing our growth strategy, continuing to drive up returns on operating profit and shareholder returns, to 15.8% and 15.5% respectively. Benefitting from the compounding effect of high-quality new business, post-tax operating profit per share increased by 12%, while basic free surplus per share rose by 11%. Excluding new business investments, net free surplus per share rose by 14% to $4.451 billion, reflecting growth in basic free surplus generation and a shift towards lower capital-intensive products." "Adhering to the Group's prudent, sustainable, and progressive dividend policy, the Board of Directors proposes to increase the final dividend by 10% to $0.14408 per share, bringing the total annual dividend to $0.19308 per share, a 10% increase from 2024. Under our capital management policy, the Board has approved a new round of $1.7 billion share buyback, including $700 million based on the target payout rate of 75% of net free...