Ping An Insurance reports RMB 6.92 bln in net profit for Jan-Sep

Oct. 28, 2009 (China Knowledge) - Ping An Insurance (Group) Co<601318><2318>, China's second-largest insurer, announced yesterday that its net profit attributable to shareholders was RMB 6.92 billion in the first three quarters of this year, versus a net loss of RMB 534 million recorded in the same period of last year.

Basic earnings per share were RMB 0.94, according to the insurer's third-quarter results.

Ping An, which is 16.8% held by HSBC Holdings Plc<0005><HBC>, attributed the increase in profit to significant increases in income from insurance business and investment income.

In the first nine months of this year, Ping An earned RMB 104.72 billion in life insurance premiums and RMB 29.02 billion in property insurance premiums, 33.5% and 38.5% more than in the same period of last year, respectively. The company has a 16.8% share of the country's life insurance market and a 12.3% share of the country's property insurance market.

By the end of September, Ping An's total assets had increased 23.4% from the end of last year to RMB 873.21 billion.

The company's bigger rival, China Life Insurance Co Ltd<601628><2628><LFC>, the country's largest life insurer in terms of premiums, earned RMB 19.87 billion in net profit in the third three quarters, 51.58% more than in the corresponding period last year. Earnings per share were RMB 0.70, according to an earlier report from China Knowledge.