Daily Brief Financials: AIA Group Ltd, Seoul Guarantee Insurance, Salter Brothers Emerging Cos L, Seazen (Formerly Future Land), INVESCO Asia Trust PLC, IP Group PLC, Custodian REIT, Metlife Inc, Lancashire Holdings and more

• AIA Group (1299 HK) is set to announce its 2024 Annual Results on 14 March 2025, 09:00 am HK Time.
• AIA Group (1299 HK) has historically experienced volatile trading during results days, with a median move of +/- 4.2%, considerably higher than typical daily movements. 
• AIA Group Ltd (1299 HK) will announce its final dividend. With a history of increases, a divided raise can be expected.

• Seoul Guarantee Insurance (031210 KS) raised around US$125m in its Korean IPO. 
• Seoul Guarantee Insurance (SGI) is a guarantee insurance firm operating predominantly in Korea.
• We have looked at the firm’s past performance and discussed our thoughts on valuation. In this note, we talk about the trading dynamics.

• Mitsui AM invests $120M in acquiring 50% stake in Greater Tokyo Data Centre, expanding their presence in the region.
• Star Entertainment secures $590M refinancing from Salter Brothers in Australia, providing capital for future growth and development.
• Panel discussion highlights how Australia’s evolving society is shifting focus of Build-to-Rent sector from macro to micro level.

• In today’s Morning Views publication we comment on developments of the following high yield issuers: Seazen Group, Adani Ports, Cikarang Listrindo, Vedanta Resources
• In the US, the February CPI came in below estimates at 0.2% m-o-m (0.3% e / 0.5% p) and 2.8% y-o-y (2.9% e / 3.0% p). Core CPI (excluding food and energy) eased to 0.2% m-o-m (0.3% e / 0.4% p) and 3.1% y-o-y (3.2% e / 3.3% p).
• US Treasuries ended the day lower, as an initial rally following the lower-than-expected CPI inflation numbers was quickly reversed amid concerns over the escalating trade war and its impact on future inflation.

Invesco Asia Trust (IAT) delivered a 12.4% NAV total return (TR) over the 12 months to end-December 2024, bolstered by the stock market rally in China and Hong Kong (to which IAT’s managers patiently maintained an overweight exposure) on the back of stimulus measures announced by the authorities in September 2024. While IAT’s return is somewhat behind the 14.0% posted by its benchmark, IAT’s share price total return of 15.8% was ahead of it, and the trust maintains a strong mid- and long-term track record of outperforming the market and its peer average. IAT remains positioned to benefit from the consumption growth story of the region via a combination of internet companies, consumer-related businesses (including e-commerce) and financials stocks, among others. The managers also see opportunities across tech and manufacturing, even if they are now cautiously underweight Taiwan on valuation grounds. Finally, their below-benchmark position in Indian equities (which also command high valuations relative to the broader region) is coupled with an overweight exposure to Indonesia, where the managers see an attractive combination of growth prospects and undemanding valuations.

Istesso, IP Group’s largest private life sciences holding (c 11% of end-June 2024 portfolio value), has announced the results of its Phase IIb clinical trial of leramistat in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Leramistat demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in bone erosion, the key secondary endpoint, as well as improvements in disability and fatigue. As a result, Istesso plans to evaluate the drug’s potential to promote adaptive tissue repair in RA in combination with existing disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs), as well as for other chronic diseases. It highlighted that it is sufficiently funded to conduct these studies. That said, the study failed to meet its primary endpoint of improvements in ACR20 response versus placebo. IP Group will provide an update on Istesso and its (possibly reduced) valuation upon releasing its FY24 results in March.

Custodian Property Income REIT (CREI) reported a 2.5% NAV total return for Q325, driven by income but with NAV also increasing. Portfolio values increased for the second consecutive quarter and, with a robust occupier market driving rent growth, the company is increasingly confident that the market is at or near an inflection point. CREI yields 7.8% and its portfolio has significant opportunities to further increase income and fully covered DPS. The prospects for capital growth also appear increasingly positive.

• MetLife reported strong fourth quarter and full-year 2024 results, with adjusted earnings marking an increase and signaling resilience amid varied economic conditions, including fluctuating interest rates and inflation concerns.
• This performance came amidst the conclusion of their five-year strategy, Next Horizon, from which the company exceeded all financial commitments and launched its New Frontier strategy, targeting improved growth dynamics.
• Baptista Research looks to evaluate the different factors that could influence the company’s price in the near future and attempts to carry out an independent valuation of the company using a Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) methodology.

Foxtons Group’s FY24 results showed revenue and adjusted operating profit growth of c 11% and c 38%, respectively, reflecting the developing success of the company’s strategic vision. This suggests that its medium-term targets, particularly the revised adjusted operating profit target of £28m–33m, are coming increasingly into focus. We believe market share is being gained across all divisions. We maintain our estimates and our 134p per share valuation, though risks appear to be skewed to the upside if market momentum continues, which could be supported by a further easing of interest rates.

Lancashire Holdings released its FY24 results on 6 March and declared another 25c/share special dividend on top of the 75c/share declared in November 2024. This brings combined special dividend declarations since FY23 to 200c/share, which equates to 36% of NAV per share at the start of FY23. Lancashire introduced a more liberal dividend policy in FY24, which resulted in a full ordinary dividend declared for FY24 of 22.5c/share compared with 15c/share for FY23 (combined dividend yield of 15.3%). Year-end NAV/share was 612c compared with 617c in FY23 and a return on equity (RoE) of 23.4% compared with 24.7% in FY23. A pull-back in the share price on the back of the results and FY25 RoE guidance in the mid-teens gives a price to NAV of 1.22x, well below the 1.3–1.6x range before interest rates increased in 2022.