KUALA LUMPUR (May 20): Some selling pressure emerged on Allianz Malaysia Bhd this morning after its net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2021 (1QFY21) came in below analyst expectation.
The counter, which opened lower at RM13.10, fell as much as 48 sen or 3.65% to RM12.68 this morning. However, it managed to recoup some losses. As at 11.25am, the stock dropped eight sen to RM13.08. Trading volume was barely at 81,400 shares.
Allianz announced yesterday that its net profit for 1QFY21 fell 20.43% to RM63.26 million, from RM79.5 million a year ago, due mainly to lower profit contribution from the life insurance segment.
This was despite its 1QFY21 revenue growing 8.21% to RM1.61 billion from RM1.48 billion a year ago, due mainly to higher gross earned premiums and investment income.
Ta Securities analyst Tan Kong Jin said in a note today, Allianz’s 1QFY21 net profit came in below expectations, accounting for 11.5% and 12.3% of his and consensus full-year forecast respectively.
The variance was mainly due to losses in the life insurance segment, he said.
“We expect 2021 to remain challenging for the general and life insurance businesses due to the recent surge in Covid-19 cases in Malaysia,” he said.
However, he made no change to his earnings estimates pending an analyst briefing today.
He also reiterated a “buy” call on the stock with a target price of RM17.73.
