Aug 27, 2026 earnings call — Asia and India growth, agency transformation
Company reported first half new business profit up 8% and highlighted double-digit guidance for 2026.
Revenue $14.9B · EPS $0.76 (est $1.28)
Key quotes
"With our multi-market, multichannel model and our drive for quality growth, I'm excited with our prospects in the growing markets of Asia and Africa."
"We are making good progress in delivering over $7 billion of returns to our shareholders from 2024 to 2027."
"Our PRUAction 1.0, which is our AI module for performance management is now live in Singapore at scale across 5,000 agents."
Analyst Q&A 9
Hong Kong growth, new business strain, India plans
Q (Kailesh Mistry · BofA): Analyst asked how Hong Kong will perform in H2, how much growth comes from margin versus volume, why new business strain fell and if 11%–12% APE strain guidance still holds, and what the plans are for India asset management and IPRU proceeds.
A: Management said Hong Kong is more balanced between Mainland visitors and domestic, with strong domestic growth and margin improvement; they expect these drivers to continue into H2. On strain, they pointed to a slight product mix shift and country mix nuances but told analysts to keep using 11%, 12% of APE for modelling. On India, they are moving toward meeting free float requirements, will retain some proceeds to fund the Bharti acquisition and platform investment, and will return residual proceeds to shareholders.
"Look, what I think I'd steer you to going forward is to continue to use 11%, 12% in terms of APE when you think about modeling strain." — Ben Bulmer (CFO)
New business profit contribution, MDRT agents, ROE drivers
Q (Andrew Crean · Autonomous): Analyst asked if 2026 new business contribution to 2027 free surplus scales with new business profit growth, how MDRT active agent numbers changed in H1 within the 55,000 total, and where the 2–3 point ROE improvement will come from.
A: Management said start with the cash generation signature similar to the 2025 cohort and then grow that base by 2026 new business profit growth. On MDRT, they highlighted initiatives to boost MDRT productivity and that MDRT cohort contribution is tracking last year, with acceleration in H2 expected. For ROE, they see the extra 2–3 points coming from completed capability investments, improved operating variances, scale and operating leverage.
"I would start with that as a base and then simply grow that by the growth we're putting on the book in 2026, if that makes sense." — Ben Bulmer (CFO)
Sources of group NBP growth and short-term variances
Q (Nasib Ahmed · UBS): Analyst asked what is driving group double-digit NBP growth beyond Hong Kong and China, what Malaysia lessons can be applied elsewhere, and what the USD 626 million short-term variances include and whether they are economic.
A: Management said growth will come from multiple markets: Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam turnaround and Hong Kong, with actions in China to comply with expense rules and rebalance product mix. Malaysia lessons are quality recruitment (PRUVentures), tailored protection/affluent propositions and rising active agents. On variances, management said much of the IFRS non-op movement was discount-rate and mark-to-market effects rather than underlying economics, partly offset by positive unlocking in the CSM.
"So there was a mark-to-market impact on both bondholdings backing shareholder business." — Ben Bulmer (CFO)
China seasonality, Singapore margins, OFSG after 2027
Q (Poyung Chang · CGSI): Analyst asked typical seasonality in Mainland China quarters, when Singapore agency margins will improve versus bancassurance, and how to model OFSG beyond 2027 given OFSG inflection.
A: Management said 1Q is usually biggest in China and 3Q 2025 was a strong comparator, so China shape will differ in 2026 and competitors ease from September; in Singapore, new co-payment rules hit margins but new protection and affluent product launches should offset this in H2. On OFSG beyond 2027, they said they are confident in delivering the $4.4 billion target and that in-force generation and expected transfers should continue to grow strongly, with central costs fairly flat and required capital growing early double digit.
"So look, we're very pleased with our progress on the capital generation front, very confident in delivering our 2027 OFSG target of $4.4 billion." — Ben Bulmer (CFO)
China product mix and Hong Kong customer survey
Q (Michelle Ma · Citi): Analyst asked if China finished its product mix shift to PAR and whether margins should stop deteriorating next year, and asked for more detail from the Hong Kong CME survey about product preferences amid tax concerns.
A: Management said the first-half PAR mix rose sharply to 76% and they have pivoted to protection in Q2; they expect to normalize PAR mix to about 60% for the full year and target a China full-year margin around 40%. On Hong Kong, they said customer demand drivers remain intact per recent surveys and they stay close to agents and customers amid news flow.
"In August, actually, many of the non-par products have been onboarded to most of our partner bank." — Yin-Yee Ng
Confidence in 2026 guidance, India long-term plan, IFRS items
Q (Farooq Hanif · JPMorgan): Analyst asked whether management's wording about confidence in 2026 new business profit guidance had changed, what the long-term vision for India is after replacing a large partnership, and for guidance on IFRS items like CSM and investment margin.
A: Management said they are not changing 2026 guidance and remain firmly focused on executing H2 goals and 2027 objectives while navigating high comparators and bancassurance expense transitions. On India, they described a long-term strategic pivot to build high-quality profitable life and health franchises with HCL and Bharti partners, focusing on selected cities and channels over 3–5 years. On IFRS, they said CSM release was strong but net investment result was lower due to asset derisking in China and lower surplus from higher remittances, and they expect the net investment result to be a couple of points higher as normalization occurs.
"And that was driven by 2 things: one, asset derisking in China; and two, lower surplus in our Life businesses as a result of higher remittances." — Ben Bulmer (CFO)
Growth markets outlook and active agent count
Q (William Hawkins · KBW): Analyst asked whether growth markets should accelerate in H2 and long term, and why total active agents fell to 55,000 and when active agents should return to growth.
A: Management said growth markets can deliver double-digit to mid-teens NBP growth in H2 with strong contributions from Taiwan, Thailand and Africa. On actives, they are deliberately shifting to quality recruitment (PRUVentures) and higher productivity rather than mass recruitment; developed market actives are stable and emerging ASEAN actives will be improved as transformations complete, so they do care about actives but focus on quality and productivity.
"Within emerging ASEAN, if you look at our 3 biggest markets, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, as I mentioned, has grown actives at 10%." — Naveen Tahilyani
Tax enforcement exposure, agency strategy, Eastspring margin
Q (Abid Hussain · Panmure Liberum Limited): Analyst asked what proportion of in-force earnings or EV is exposed to potential tax enforcement and whether lapse behavior changed, whether the group targets a specific active agent number, and why Eastspring's cost/income rose and revenue margin fell slightly.
A: Management said about half of the Hong Kong business relates to Mainland visitors and of that 55% is health and protection; savings products include protection features and most payments are from funds already in Hong Kong, with no impact to lapses or persistency. On agency, they want actives to grow but are shifting to quality recruits and productivity; on Eastspring, the cost/income increase was driven by IPAMC sell-down mechanics while fee income and inflows remained strong.
"Of that, 55% is health and protection products actually to give you a sense." — Ben Bulmer (CFO)
China NBP guidance basis and Hong Kong margin drivers
Q (Thomas Wang · Goldman Sachs): Analyst asked if full-year 2026 NBP similar to 2025 was on a CER basis and whether Hong Kong margin expansion was driven by product mix, repricing, or policy term changes.
A: Management confirmed the full-year China NBP comparison is on a CER basis. On Hong Kong margins, they said improved mix toward health and protection and some repricing in savings and protection products gave an additional boost to margins.
"There was also a little bit of a shift in mix in terms of some of our savings and protection products as a result of repricing that gave us an additional boost there." — Ben Bulmer (CFO)