China Pacific Insurance reports 45% rise in H1 net profits

BEIJING - The China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co, the country's third-largest life insurer, said Monday that its net profits jumped 44.7 percent year-on-year to 5.82 billion yuan ($911.04 million) in the first half of the year.

The company's income from insurance sales rose 14.2 percent to 86.88 billion yuan, accounting for 10.8 percent of the total market share, up from 9.9 percent at the end of last year, the insurer said in a half-year report filed to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

The insurer attributed the higher profits to increased profitability in both its property and life insurance divisions, the report said.

Net profits from the company's property insurance division surged 54 percent to 2.34 billion yuan during the period, while its life insurance division saw a 28.5-percent rise in net profits of 2.79 billion yuan, the report said.

The company's total investment assets totaled 490.51 billion yuan as of the end of June, up 12.6 percent from the end of last year. The company's investment return rate stood at 4.4 percent over the past six months, the report added.

The company said in its report that it expects costs to go up over the second half of the year due to global economic conditions affecting China's growth.

The company's earnings per share were up 44.7 percent year on year to 0.68 yuan, while its total assets stood at 537.22 billion yuan, up 12.9 percent from the end of last year, the report said.