The insurance and investment company also announced that following the £11bn mammoth merger, Standard Life will be renamed as Standard Life Aberdeen.
According to a prospectus document published on its website, for the year ending 31 December 2016, Standard Life reported a loss of £5m in its Hong Kong life business, a significant improvement on the £46m loss the company posted in Hong Kong in 2015.
The investment giant, which has a presence in 29 cities across 18 countries, also lost £31m when it closed its Singapore business in 2015.
“This IFRS profit for the year [2015] included a £46m loss in Hong Kong mainly due to an impairment of deferred acquisition costs following regulatory change, and a £31m loss relating to the closure of the Singapore business,” said the document.
In March, Standard Life agreed to sell its Hong Kong life operation to its Chinese joint venture company Heng An Standard Life Insurance Company (HASL).
India and China
The company said that post-merger, Standard Life Aberdeen will continue to focus on its key Asian operations in India and China, where it posted an operating profit last year of £36m and £7m respectively.
HDFC Life, Standard Life’s associate business in India, sells individual and group life policies via a network of around 4,000 branches as through a number of key bancassurance relationships.
“In India, the combined group could have access to over 25 million customers across its associate businesses.
“The Indian mutual fund market offers long-term growth potential substantially above the global average for fund managers, and the proposed merger between HDFC Life and Max Life will give the combined group a significant holding in what will be the largest private insurance company in India by individual premium market share,” the insurer said.
Standard Life added that its Chinese joint venture with Heng An Standard Life (HASL) will enable the “combined group” to take advantage of the expected growth in savings and investment products in the “attractive international markets of China and Hong Kong”.
HASL currently has 82 offices offering life and health insurance products direct to customers as well as via relationships with banks and insurance brokers.
Job losses
Meanwhile, Standard Life admitted that it will shed 800 jobs when it merges with Aberdeen Asset Management, revealing that the integration will cost £320m alone.
The company failed to specify where the job losses would occur, but added it will be from the two companies’ combined workforce of 9,000 and will take place over the three-year integration period.
