China's Ping An to take $2.3 billion loss

06 Oct, 2008

Ping An Insurance said on Sunday that it would report a loss of about 15.7 billion yuan ($2.3 billion) on its investment in troubled European financial group Fortis.
China's second-largest life insurer said it would include the impairment loss in its earnings statement for the July-September quarter, as a result of marking down the market value of its 5 percent stake in Fortis.
The loss would be one of the largest suffered by a Chinese financial institution so far in the turmoil gripping global markets. Ping An's alliance with Fortis was a key part of its drive to become a full-service financial giant. But this hope began to unravel last month as Fortis's share price halved and its Dutch units were sold to the Netherlands government. Last week, Ping An said it had scrapped a $3 billion deal to buy half of Fortis's asset management arm.

Read Comments