China’s Ping An promised to be more prudent with future investments after the insurer took a Rmb20.8bn ($3.2bn) post-tax hit from its exposure to a troubled property developer.
Reporting a fall in its first-half net profits after the stock market close in Hong Kong on Thursday, the financial services group — which offers banking, investment and technology services as well as insurance — said it attached “great importance to investment risks caused by the debt crisis of China Fortune”.
Ping An had invested in both the debt and equity of China Fortune Land Development, which specialises in industrial parks and has suffered from delayed payments by local governments. The developer defaulted on $530m of dollar-denominated debt in March.