AIA Group posts 44 percent rise in new business growth for first quarter

Reuters

(Reuters) - AIA Group Ltd (1299.HK), the world's second-largest life insurer by market capitalisation, reported a 44 percent rise in the value of new business in the first quarter, driven by surging demand to buy insurance in Hong Kong and China.

AIA said the company's value of new business, which measures expected profits from new premiums and is a key yardstick for growth, rose to $578 million in the quarter from $425 million a year earlier.

(Reporting by Kshitiz Goliya in Bengaluru; Editing by Michael Perry)