China Life soars with 34 percent profit increase

China Life Insurance (2628) said its net profit increased 34 percent year-on-year to nearly 41 billion yuan (HK$49.3 billion) in the first half of 2021, but no interim dividend was proposed.

Its half-year new business value fell 19 percent to 29.9 billion yuan from a year earlier. The insurer’s gross written premiums rose 3.5 percent to 442 billion yuan from a year ago. However, premiums from new policies fell 8.4 percent to 133.9 billion yuan from last year, which was attributed to the impact of the pandemic and a slowdown in the release of demands for insurance consumption.

Meanwhile, its gross investment yield rose 35 basis points to 5.69 percent, and a gross investment income of 117.6 billion yuan was recorded.

A 22 percent growth in the investment segment steered the net profit arise, the company said. Its total assets grew 9.4 percent to 4.65 trillion from the end of 2020. The company’s total sales force was around 1.223 million, which down 235,000 from 1.458 million it recorded as of the end of 2020.