HONG KONG and SHANGHAI, March 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Ping An Insurance (Group) Company of China, Ltd. (hereafter "Ping An" or the "Group", HKEx:2318; SSE:601318) announced that Ping An is in the top 10 in the Global 500 2020 rankings released by the leading brand valuation consultancy Brand Finance. Ping An climbed five places to number nine among global brands. Ping An ranked first among global insurance peers and 2nd among global financial peers.
The ranking shows that Ping An's brand value increased by 19.8% year on year to USD69,041 million. It was the fastest growing brand in terms of brand value among the top 10 companies in the list. Ping An's brand value has grown rapidly in recent years, with a rise in the Brand Finance Global 500 rankings for three years in a row (2017: 79th, 2018: 30th, 2019: 14th, 2020: 9th).
Brand Finance is the world's leading independent brand valuation consultancy. It evaluates thousands of brands every year. The Brand Finance Global 500 is recognized internationally and is the only global brand ranking endorsed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The Brand Finance Global 500 mainly evaluates the brand value of a company in three areas: the Brand Strength Index, Brand Royalty Rate and Brand Revenues, focusing on corporate sustainable development, customer services and corporate social responsibility.
Ping An achieved steady business growth in 2019, as the Group pursued its "finance + technology" and "finance + ecosystem" transformation strategies and continued to enhance its data-driven operational capabilities. The numbers of users, customers, contracts per customer and profit per customer of integrated financial services have all recorded significant growth. In 2019, operating profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company rose 18.1% year-on-year to RMB132,955 million (USD19,012 million). Net profit grew 36.5% year on year to RMB164,365 million (USD23,504 million). Net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company rose 39.1% year on year to RMB149,407 million (USD21,365 million).
Regarding customer services, Ping An maintained its customer-centric philosophy and applied technological innovations to the development of retail financial products and the improvement of customer services, in order to boost efficiency, enhance risk management and offer excellent products and service experiences. As of 31 December 2019, the number of retail customers of the Group increased by 11.2% compared to the previous year, contracts per customer increased 3.9% to 2.64, and operating profit per customer increased 13.0% year on year to nearly RMB613(USD87.66). Operating profit of the retail business increased by 25.7% year on year to RMB122,802 million (USD17,560 million), accounting for 92.4% of the Group's operating profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company. In 2019, the Group acquired 36.57 million new customers, of which 40.7% were sourced from internet users within the Group's five ecosystems - financial services, health care, auto services, real estate services and smart city services.
Ping An also furthered its Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)-driven sustainable development transformation. With the strategy of "finance + technology" and in collaboration with stakeholders, Ping An has managed to balance its interests in a green environment, harmonious society and sustainable economic development goals based on its five ecosystems. As of 31 December 2019, Ping An's responsible investment reached RMB954,449 million (USD136,486 million), the insured amount of sustainable insurance reached RMB121.21 trillion (USD17.33 trillion) and green credit lines granted amounted to RMB59,056 million (USD8,445 million).
In 2019, Ping An also expanded the Ping An Rural Communities Support program from poverty alleviation to include sustainable development of rural communities, including industry promotion, healthcare and education support. The program covers 21 provinces or autonomous regions across China, with the total poverty alleviation funds granted of RMB15.745 billion (USD2.251 billion). Through the program, 949 village and township clinics were upgraded, 11,175 village doctors were trained, 1,054 village primary schools upgraded, and 11,826 village teachers trained.
Ping An said, "Going forward, Ping An will continue to further its 'finance + technology' and 'finance + ecosystem' strategies in order to empower financial services with technologies, further refine its one-stop integrated financial services, enhance customers' satisfaction and continue to create value for customers and shareholders. Ping An will continue to strengthen investment and application of fintech and healthtech, actively participate in the construction of smart city, better fulfill social responsibility and help people pursue a better life."
In the Brand Finance Global 500 2020 rankings, Chinese brands have entered a new era. In the past decade, the aggregate brand value of the Chinese companies in the rankings has increased by 1,100% to USD1,334 billion from USD111 billion, surpassing the aggregate brand value growth of all the other countries and regions. The growth rate of Chinese companies' brand value is eight times faster than the growth rate of the overall brand value on the ranking. According to the ranking, the top 10 global companies are Amazon, Google, Apple, Microsoft, Samsung, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Facebook, Walmart, Ping An and Huawei.
