CHINA Life Insurance Co. yesterday reported a 30 percent rise in annual net profit, meeting analysts’ estimates, lifted by gains on its investments in the country’s booming stock markets.

    China’s largest insurer by market value said net profit for last year rose to 32.2 billion yuan (US$5.19 billion) from 24.77 billion a year earlier. That was in line with the average forecast for 32.7 billion from analysts.

    The firm had told investors Jan. 30 that it expected its annual net profit to rise by around 30 percent compared with the previous year thanks to gains in its investment portfolio.

    Chinese insurers can book gains in their investment portfolios as profits, making their quarterly net profit figures volatile, and inaccurate, indicators of underlying growth.

    The insurance regulator said in January that the industry recorded an average yield on investments of 6.3 percent in 2014, compared with 5 percent a year earlier, leading to a doubling of sector profits.

    In addition to investment gains, China Life has been trying to build more sustainable earnings by focusing more on recruitment to increase the number of its sales staff.

    The number of sales agents had dwindled every year from 2009 to 2013, as salaries for the job remained low and a boom in wealth management products in China made insurance products hard to sell. (SD-Agencies)