Great Eastern's profits plunged 26%to $165.9m

Dragged by slower insurance business.

In a release, Great Eastern Holdings Limited today announced its financial results for the quarter and year ended 31 December 2013.

Group profit attributable to shareholders in Q4-13 was down 26% year-on- year to S$165.9 million.

FY-13 Group profit attributable to shareholders was 43% lower year-on-year at S$674.8 million, resulting from a one-off post-tax gain of S$421.6 million from the sale of shareholdings in Asia Pacific Breweries Limited and Fraser and Neave, Limited in Q3-12.

Excluding this one-off gain, Group profit attributable to shareholders was 12% lower year-on-year in FY-13 because of the unrealised mark-to-market losses from the valuation of assets and liabilities brought about by the less favourable financial market conditions. Group profit attributable to shareholders in Q4-13 was down 26% year-on- year to S$165.9 million.

On a full-year basis, operating profit from insurance business rose 12% year-on-year to S$559.6 million as a result of better performance across all its life assurance funds. For the quarter, year-on-year operating profit performance was affected by the combined effect of two one-off items, namely a release of tax provisions in Q4-12 which benefited the Singapore Non-participating Fund, and a negative impact in Q4-13 from a change in the timing of terminal bonus recognition for the Malaysia Participating Fund.

The net impact of these two items resulted in a 20% year-on-year decline in operating profit this quarter to S$135.3 million. Excluding the impact of these two one-off items, the Group’s operating profit in Q4-13 registered healthy year-on-year growth in Q4-13.