"Big Banks" Citigroup: The operation and outlook of the property and casualty insurance business remain stable

According to reports from domestic media, Yu Ze, a member of the Party Committee and Vice President of the People’s Insurance Group (01339.HK), as well as the Party Secretary and President of PICC P&C (02328.HK), has gone missing and is suspected to have been taken away for investigation. No official news has been released yet.

Citi believes that the investigation into Yu will not affect the insurance business operations of PICC P&C, as it has established a comprehensive operational system as a central state-owned enterprise. At the same time, the bank believes that its business outlook remains unchanged and will continue to benefit from the favorable conditions brought about by strengthened regulatory underwriting. Specifically, due to the implementation of the expense rate regulatory policy for non-auto insurance (unified reporting for non-auto insurance), the bank still expects the comprehensive cost ratio for non-auto insurance to improve by about 1 percentage point by 2026.

Citi has given PICC P&C a "Buy" rating with a target price of 21.2 yuan