Daiichi Life Group, Inc. (8750) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Well, thank you very much for coming to our call. So today, we disclosed the first quarter results. So I'm going to give you some explanations on the results. Please go to Page 3. So these are the main points for our results. Regarding the bottom line, Group adjusted profit is JPY 158.1 billion. It's about JPY 84 billion higher than the number the previous year. The last year, due to the bond rebalancing, profit level was quite low. So we had 113% increase this year. And our progress rate for full year outlook is about 28%. For Domestic Business, higher positive spread in DL and higher gain from sale of domestic equities drove the better results. Particularly because of the yen portfolio rebalancing, the Group's fundamental earning power has been improving. Now regarding the top line, Well, the Group's new business ANP was JPY 135 billion, 6.7% higher compared to the same period of last year. If you exclude FX impact, that's 3.9% increase. Sales in DL was steady and PLC's retirement business saw outperforming fixed annuity sales, and TAL benefited from Group business contract renewals. And sales momentum for the Group as a whole is quite steady. On the other hand, if you look at the value of new business for 3 domestic companies, Daiichi Life, the new business margin has been lower because of the inflation. So it resulted in lower results from the -- or than the original estimate. Now economic value. Group EV increased from the previous term. ESR-wise, because of the acquisition of the company portfolio and investment in M&G and also higher mass lapse risk due to higher domestic rate, that lowered the number. However, we still have sufficient level of capital. So in terms of the profit, it's better than original estimate, and the sales momentum has been quite solid for the Group as a whole. I'm going to give you more details in the following pages. This is progress about the Group adjusted profit. For Domestic Business, positive spread increased in Daiichi Life and there was increase in sale gain from the domestic stocks. And yen bond portfolio rebalancing and higher interest and dividend income from alternative assets contributed. For International Business, each entity's profits and loss were mixed. But overall, it's within original estimate range. For noninsurance business, asset management entities contributed, an increase in membership fee and lower expense, so the employer business -- employee benefit business, the higher profit. For HD and Others, SG&A and interest payment increased, resulting in lower profit. And for Group as a whole, higher profit, mainly Domestic Business, way offset the impact, showing 28% progress to the budget. This is by the impact of higher interest rate. At Daiichi Life, that we are working on that yen bond portfolio rebalancing, resulting in higher asset yield. Impact of the positive spread improvement amounts to about JPY 17 billion per annum. On the other hand, the higher rate can increase fixed income valuation loss and mass lapse risks. In terms of risk management, matching ratio at the end of June is 91%. So we have enough buffer for higher interest rate in the future. Daiichi Life and Daiichi Frontier Life surrender rate is stable at low level. We appropriately manage the risk due to higher rate. And through bond rebalancing, we would like to make sure positive spread and fundamental earning power will improve our mid to long-term results. Now this is about the sale of domestic listed shares. For first quarter, we actually sold about JPY 300 billion worth domestic shares, making good progress towards planned JPY 800 billion sale for fiscal year 2026. But stock market value increase was higher than sale amount. So equity value at June-end increased to JPY 3.7 trillion. We keep monitoring the market situation and continue to sell the listed shares. So please go to the next page. This is about our initiatives to expand positive spread at Daiichi Life. In response to higher stock sale gain and higher rate in Japan, in the first quarter, we rebalanced about JPY 500 billion of the fixed income portfolio. Loss from sale amounts to JPY 200 billion. But it translates to a positive spread of JPY 17 billion per annum. If nothing changes in the market environment, for full year, rebalancing loss will be JPY 540 billion and positive spread impact should be JPY 34 billion per annum. And out of that, JPY 26 billion will contribute to the profit of this year. We continue to take a good balance between gain from stock sale and loss from portfolio rebalancing and making our portfolio more resilient. Please go to Page 11. This is about value of new business and new business ANP. For 3 domestic entities, VNB is about JPY 20 billion, 26% lower than the previous year. The last year, in the fourth quarter, we conducted model change in Daiichi Life. On the other hand, for Group as a whole, new business ANP was JPY 135 billion, 6.7% higher compared to the same period of last year. Excluding FX impact, it's a 3.9% increase. While there was an impact of the model change, however, solid sales momentum continues. Please go to the next page. This is about Group's economic value. At the end of June, Group EV is about JPY 9.8 trillion, because of the increase of the domestic shares. This is 2% higher than the end of last period. For Group ESR, it's 206%, 13 points lower than the end of last term. For eligible capital, because of the acquisition of portfolio and the dividend payout, there was some downward pressure. However, that was offset by higher domestic equity price, so resulting in a flat number. For required capital, because of the increase of the risk of mass lapse and higher stock price and equity risk increased due to M&G investment, it increased about by JPY 400 billion. ESR declined compared to the previous term, but we are still securing over 200% level. We will monitor rate, stock price, lapse trend and M&A impact on capital, and make sure sufficient level of ESR is maintained. Go to the next page. This is our full year forecast for fiscal year 2026. Adjusted profit for the Group in first quarter, JPY 158.1 billion. The progress rate is 28%. This has been better than original estimate, so we appreciate these numbers positively. Particularly, fixed income portfolio rebalancing increased our fundamental earning power. However, we just finished the first quarter. So depending on the future interest rate and market environment, our results might fluctuate. So we do not change our forecast for full year. We keep monitoring the progress of each entity and the economic environment so that we can actually achieve our full year goals. Thank you very much. That concludes my presentation. [Statements in English on this transcript were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]