New China Life Insurance Company Ltd. (SSE: 601336; SEHK: 01336) disclosed its 2026 interim report on the evening of August 26, showing that revenue climbed 18.9% year-on-year to 83.258 billion yuan for the first half of the year. Net profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company reached 22.793 billion yuan, a robust 54.0% increase from the same period last year.

In its interim report, New China Life attributed the profit growth primarily to a year-on-year improvement in investment performance. During the first six months, investment income surged 149.7% to 46.856 billion yuan, driven largely by higher gains from the buy-sell spreads of investment assets. Total profit for the period rose 64.2% year-on-year to 26.623 billion yuan.

Turning to its core life insurance operations, New China Life recorded original insurance premium income of 129.570 billion yuan in the first half of 2026, up 6.9% year-on-year. Within this, first-year regular premiums from long-term policies climbed 27.7% to 32.612 billion yuan, while premiums with a term of ten years or more soared 132.1% to 2.853 billion yuan. Renewal premiums grew 12.2% to 88.461 billion yuan. The company's new business value reached 6.916 billion yuan, an 11.9% increase, with the new business value margin based on first-year premiums improving 2.3 percentage points to 17.2%. Embedded value stood at 310.384 billion yuan as of June 30, up 7.8% from the end of the prior year. The proportion of first-year regular premiums in total first-year premiums for long-term policies rose 20.8 percentage points to 85.2%, while renewal premiums accounted for 68.3% of total premiums.

By distribution channel, the individual agency channel generated premium income of 82.220 billion yuan in the first half, a 13.4% year-on-year increase, with first-year regular premiums from long-term policies growing 24.3% to 17.715 billion yuan. The agency workforce stood at 128,000 individuals, with average monthly qualified agents rising 7.2% to 26,800 and average monthly high-performing agents increasing 16.2% to 20,800. Average monthly productivity per agent improved 31.7% to 22,000 yuan. New business value from the individual agency channel rose 20.6% year-on-year. The bancassurance channel recorded premium income of 44.554 billion yuan, including first-year regular premiums of 14.652 billion yuan, up 32.0%, and renewal premiums of 24.643 billion yuan, up 16.0%. The average monthly number of bancassurance outlets generating regular premiums grew 20.1% year-on-year, while the average monthly number of sales personnel achieving such premiums increased 19.8%.

Additionally, the group channel achieved premium income of 2.796 billion yuan in the first half, a year-on-year increase of 9.9%, with first-year premiums from long-term policies growing 39.0% to 246 million yuan. Policy-based health insurance business generated premium income of 1.016 billion yuan, up 1.9%, covering over 17 million customers.

In terms of product mix, New China Life saw notable shifts. Traditional insurance premium income declined 28.1% year-on-year to 53.391 billion yuan, while participating insurance premium income surged 165.4% to 48.492 billion yuan. Within participating products, first-year premiums from long-term policies skyrocketed 645.7% to 34.502 billion yuan.

On the investment front, total investment assets surpassed 1.9 trillion yuan as of June 30, up 3.3% from the end of last year. Total investment income reached 57.525 billion yuan in the first half, a 27.0% year-on-year increase, while comprehensive investment income grew 12.5% to 55.039 billion yuan. The annualized total investment yield improved 0.8 percentage points to 6.7%, while the annualized comprehensive investment yield held steady at 6.4%. The annualized net investment yield declined 0.4 percentage points to 2.6%. Gains from buy-sell spreads on investment assets jumped 247.2% to 38.234 billion yuan.

Regarding dividends, the board of New China Life approved an interim cash dividend plan for 2026, proposing a distribution of 0.73 yuan per share (including tax), totaling approximately 2.277 billion yuan, a 9.0% increase over the interim dividend of the previous year. The company has now added interim dividends for three consecutive years since 2024, on top of its annual distributions.