(Yicai Global) Feb. 21 -- Profit at China's Ping An Insurance Group, one of the biggest insurers in the world, climbed 39 percent last year thanks to an enhanced retail performance.

Net profit rose to CNY149.4 billion (USD21.3 billion) in the 12 months ended Dec. 31, from CNY107.4 billion the previous year, the Shenzhen-based company said in an earnings report released yesterday. The market expectation was for CNY157.6 billion, according to data from Refinitiv. The per-share dividend rose 19 percent to CNY2.05.

Ping An had 11.2 percent more retail customers at the end of the year, surpassing the 200 million mark for the first time, as Chairman Ma Mingzhe continues to push the group's embrace of technology. Operating profit from its retail segment jumped almost 26 percent to CNY122.8 billion, making up 92 percent of the group's total.

The company's "retail business has become a strong growth driver," it said in a statement.

Ping An's Hong Kong-traded stock [HKG:2318] fell 0.7 percent today to close at HKD91 (USD11.68), while its Shanghai shares [SHA:601318] lost 1.1 percent to CNY82.38 (USD11.71). The earnings report came out after the market closed.

Ping An also disclosed its group finance business for the first time in the report, in which it said corporate premiums from cross-selling tallied CNY12.6 billion and new financing from corporate cross-selling more than doubled to CNY297 billion.

Total assets as of the year-end were 15 percent higher than a year earlier at CNY8.2 trillion (USD1.2 trillion).

Its life and health insurance business earned 24.7 percent more profit, CNY89 billion, while Ping An Property & Casualty's premium income grew 9.5 percent to CNY271 billion. As of the end of 2019, Ping An's portfolio of insurance funds was worth CNY3.2 trillion, up 14.8 percent, and had made CNY28.2 billion in profit through the year, 13.6 percent more than in 2018.

Revenue from the firm's tech-powered businesses jumped 27.1 percent to CNY82.1 billion. Three of its subsidiaries -- OneConnect Financial Technology, Ping An Good Doctor and Autohome -- went public during the year, while Lufax Holding and Ping An HealthKonnect also raised funds, valuing the companies at USD69.1 billion in total as of Dec. 31.

"Ping An furthered its technology-powered business transformation, and applied its leading technologies to financial, health care and smart city services," the firm said."Technological empowerment has achieved significant results and ecosystem empowerment has started to reveal its effects."

OneConnect, which serves most of China's big banks and insurers, posted revenue of CNY2.3 billion for the year, up 64.7 percent. Shares in the unit [NYSE:OCFT] closed 2.7 percent higher yesterday at USD12.98.

Ping An Good Doctor's 2019 revenue jumped 51.7 percent annually to CNY5 billion, with 17 percent coming from online services. Its shares [HKG:1833] gained 0.3 percent to HKD77.50.

Editor: James Boynton