- Ping An-owned start-ups Lufax, OneConnect and Ping An HealthKonnect are all valued at more than US$1 billion each
- Company has not yet decided on a timetable or listing venue, says co-CEO Jessica Tan
Ping An Insurance (Group), buoyed by the successful listing of its first unicorn, Ping An Healthcare and Technology in April last year, plans to list three other start-ups valued at more than US$1 billion "when the timing is right".
The company also said that it had budgeted an investment of 10 billion yuan (US$1.42 billion) for 2019 to expand its technology businesses.
China's largest online medical services app, better known as Ping An Good Doctor, raised HK$8.77 billion (US$1.12 billion) in Hong Kong in April last year, which was oversubscribed 653 times by retail investors, making it the city's most sought-after main board IPO since 2009.
Jessica Tan Sin-yin, co-chief executive of Shenzhen-based Ping An, said the other unicorns " Lufax, OneConnect and Ping An HealthKonnect " will be listed "when the right timing is right".
"We do not have a timetable and a listing venue yet," she said during a post results briefing on Friday, along with chairman Peter Ma Mingzhe and other senior executives in Hong Kong.
Ping An's shares closed 2.2 per cent higher at HK$89.15, after reporting its biggest jump in interim net profit since 2015 on Thursday.
OneConnect, one of the virtual bank licence winners in Hong Kong which provides technology solutions to financial institutions, was said to be opting for a listing in New York that could raise up to US$1 billion, according to a Reuters report citing sources on June 17.
It was the day after some two million people joined a rally in Hong Kong to protest against the now-abandoned extradition bill.
The unrest, now in its third month, has turned violent at times. This has dampened market sentiment, resulting in July IPO numbers dropping by half from a year ago while only one IPO was seen in the first half of August.
"Hong Kong remains an important financial hub. This year we have set up five companies in the city," Tan said.
China's largest insurer by market value this year will continue to invest 1 per cent of its annual revenue, or 10 billion yuan, to develop its technology businesses although the sector's operating profit dropped 29 per cent in the first half.
Tan said while revenue of its technology units rose by 34 per cent, the tech units' profit decline was mainly because of additional investment in research and development.
"We have 11 technology business units, and each needs a lot of investment. OneConnect alone has 40 projects on hand," she said.
Lufax, one of China's largest fintech companies, one of Ping An's unicorns being prepped for an IPO, said in July it was scaling down its peer-to-peer (P2P) lending business.
Tan said the move would not have a big impact as P2P represents less than 20 per cent of Lufax's overall lending.
Lufax can easily use partner banks, trust or other channels to offer loans, she said.
Jason Yao, chief financial officer and chief actuary of the company, said the company would take a cautious approach in its investment amid the global market uncertainties.
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