Ageas Sees Major Profit Boost Driven by China Joint Venture Tax Changes

International insurance group Ageas has updated its Net Operating Result guidance as it is now expecting to make significantly more profit in 2025 than originally forecasted thanks to a tax change in China. The updated guidance range is now set between EUR 1.6 and 1.65 billion, a notable rise from the earlier projection of EUR 1.3 to 1.35 billion. This revision follows a pre-announcement by China Taiping Insurance Holding (CTIH) regarding new corporate income tax regulations. These regulations, issued by the Chinese Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation, clarify the corporate income tax treatment in relation to the transition to IFRS17/9 accounting standards. This policy change will result in “a positive one-off impact on the deferred taxes included in the full year 2025 results of Ageas’s Chinese joint venture Taiping Life,” the insurer stated.