Great Eastern

Great Eastern: reported a weak headline 2Q13 result , with $18.6m net profit, -77% yoy, mainly due to the mark to market losses on the bond portfolio. Nevertheless, Credit Suisse encourages investors to look through this and focus on underlying profit, which was up 32% yoy to $154m. The main driver was the strong new business growth (+34% yoy to $264m), boosted by Singapore (+48%) due to growth in all channels. Msia new business was also up 15% yoy, with strong growth in unit linked pdts. The house has increased its TP to $25 from $22.50, after rolling forward its valuation metrics . Great Eastern trades at embedded value (EV) , 13x P/E and 1.6x P/B, which CS deems attractive given the group's robust and stable growth outlook rating - especially now that growth is back.