China Life earns RMB 237.3 bln in premium income in Jan-Sep

Oct. 16, 2009 (China Knowledge) - China Life Insurance Co Ltd<601628><2628><LFC>, the country's largest life insurance company, said  yesterday that its unaudited premium income reached RMB 237.3 billion in the first nine months of this year, according to its filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

The figure indicates a year-on-year decline of 4.5%, but the decline is 1.94 percentage points less than that in the first eight months of this year.

In September, China Life, which is 72% held by state-owned China Life Insurance (Group) Co, realized RMB 26.6 billion in premium income, 13.7% more than a year earlier. The September growth reflects the first rise since March of this year.

The insurer's president, Wan Feng, said that the drop in premium income for the first three quarters was a result of an adjustment to the company's business structure.

The company is due to release its official third quarter results on Oct. 27.

China Life's net profit was RMB 13.92 billion in the first half of 2009, up 29.22% year on year, according to an earlier report from China Knowledge.